Rising star 2024 - Engineering Day

Why?

By honoring young engineers and students known for their creativity, leadership, and commitment, we can motivate the next generation of engineers to tackle the major challenges in our society and infrastructure.

We aim to embrace new, innovative ideas and perspectives that advance the progress of sustainable transportation solutions. We want to elevate inspiring individuals who will play a role in shaping our future.

The prize was previously named Grand Prize for Engineering Student but received its new name in 2024 to capture the essence of the next generation of engineers.

Who?

Nominate a candidate for the Grand prize for Engineering in “Rising Star”. This could be an individual or a team that has made significant contributions early in their career or academic life within their field. It might be someone who has inspired others, demonstrated impressive leadership, realized innovative ideas, or shown a strong commitment to sustainability, inclusion, and/or community development.

We are looking for individuals whose actions and achievements provide guidance for future generations. The person or team being nominated should be a student or have recently started their professional career (working no more than 3 years after their studies).

We look forward to your nominations.

Base criteria:

Swedish Connection: The solution or individual should have a strong connection to Sweden, through residence, development, or otherwise.
Societal Benefit: The work should positively impact society or the environment.
Ethics and Sustainability: The solution should adhere to high ethical standards and promote sustainability.
Current Development: The nominee must have worked on the project in the last year.
Nominees may not be employed by the prize category partner (Trafikverket).

The nominations for 2024 are now closed.

Hall of Fame

2024 – Presented by Trafikverket

Jonna Matthiesen

Motivation by the jury:
The winner of the Rising Star award is an inspiring young leader in the AI industry. Rising swiftly from intern to team lead, this winner has made pioneering advancements in neural architecture search (NAS), driving essential innovation for scalable AI solutions.

As a powerful role model for women in one of the tech industry’s most male-dominated fields, she exemplifies how skill, dedication, and leadership can open doors and inspire the next generation.

Through her profound expertise in data science and mathematics, as well as her leadership and strategic planning capabilities, our winner is not merely a participant in the AI landscape but a shaper of its future.

2023 – presented by trafikverket

Paula Runsten and Felix Kruse with Rebaba

Motivation by the jury: This year’s winner is passionate about sustainability and aims to contribute to creating change in the energy industry through a simple, functional, and industrialized solution for batteries. With a focus on the lifespan and reuse of lithium-ion batteries, they seek to extend the life of batteries. They do this with both entrepreneurial and long-term sustainable perspectives – inspiring and providing hope for the future.

2022 – Presented by Trafikverket

Elvftech

Motivation by the jury:
Through their innovative solution, energy losses from electricity production can be significantly reduced, which also decreases carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, they have the potential to contribute positively to our biggest challenge of today, the climate crisis. They address a highly relevant societal issue of reducing energy consumption for industries, which can contribute to a more energy-efficient society.

The technology has a broad range of applications and can be used by a multitude of actors, making the opportunities for scaling up very significant. Overall, we hope that this award can help the company take steps to get their concept out faster and thereby contribute to the sustainable society of the future. The Grand Prize for Engineering in the student category goes to Elvftech