BT announces its first fellows – the highest level of achievement within their tech fellowship programme. Andrew Lord, Andy Sutton, Maria Cuevas and Dave Harcourt all received the accolade.
The career development programme, spearheaded by engineers within the business, was launched to recognise and support tech talent in the business.
BT states that: “The programme enables technical experts to be brought together into ‘squads’ to work on technologies in areas such as AI, security, energy in networks, IoT and cloud scaling, bringing together new insights, expertise and ways of thinking.”
Encompassing four levels of involvement from ‘member’ through to ‘fellow’, progression is achieved via a peer-reviewed application process, during which candidates must demonstrate the necessary ability, ambition and ambassadorship to meet the criteria for the next level.
Maria Cuevas, networks research director at BT said of her appointment: “It is an absolute honour to have been nominated and recognised by my colleagues as a Fellow in BT.
“I take this as a great opportunity and a responsibility to be an ambassador for the telecoms industry and the positive impact that our sector has on the wider society.
“The Tech Fellowship is a growing, self-sustaining community within BT, by engineers for engineers, aiming to have an impact in and outside our business.
“We have made great progress in the last 2 years and I am committed to continue to support and help amplify our collective impact in my new role within this community.”
Meanwhile Andrew Lord, senior manager of research and optical networks, who is approaching his fourth decade with the company, commented, “I am frankly stunned to be elected to one of the first BT Fellows.
"Over my 38 years in the company, considering the many brilliant people with whom I’ve worked, I would never have believed this was possible and it’s a very humbling experience. It makes me even more determined to do the absolute best that I can, both for the Tech Fellowship and for the wider BT Group.
"The 2-year-old Fellowship has already had a significant impact within BT Networks, and I am particularly pleased with the support offered to aid people’s development aspirations, as well as the encouragement to get out there and play our part as industry thought leaders.”
