Jessica Leigh Jones

Jessica is an engineer at the Sony UK Technology Centre, where she develops the next generation of manufacturing technologies in collaboration with Sony Japan.

The astrophysics graduate and former UK Young Engineer of the Year received the Intel Inspiration Award for Entrepreneurship following the development of a series of novel fibre optic transducers.

She is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers and a member of the Innovation Advisory Council for Wales. The passionate advocate for technical sciences has also assumed directorship of the Engineering Education Scheme Wales and patronage of Science and Engineering at Alton Convent School.

Aged 22, Jessica’s technical achievements include the invention of a low-cost fibre optic foetal contraction monitor which is in the process of being patented. The technology was originally designed on behalf of a local medical manufacturer and resulted in a 99% production cost reduction. Subsequent versions of Jessica’s technology were designed for measuring flexing activity in large structures including bridges and aircraft, as well as potentially explosive atmospheres, such as in an oil rig environment.

In 2015 despite academic doubt, she successfully developed a scale model interactive gravitational wave detector with the aim of making complex science more accessible to the public. Her project received £5,000 in grant funding to extend its outreach programme to the rest of Wales. She is also co-leading a movement with the Institution of Engineering & Technology to standardise emerging cyber technologies, to ensure Wales and the UK stay ahead of the curve in the imminent 4th industrial revolution.