Person standing in a museum gallery beside a Concorde aircraft, with the plane’s nose and exhibition space visible behind.

Q&A: Alexia Williams MBE, technical lead at Rolls-Royce

June 2026

Young Engineer of the Year win, Alexia Williams MBE is already making a mark on the future of aerospace. As a technical lead at Rolls‑Royce, she is helping improve the performance and reliability of long-life assets, combining ambition, collaboration and real-world impact in a fast-moving engineering career.

What does your role involve?

As a technical lead at Rolls-Royce, I work collaboratively with our partners to improve availability of long-life assets and reduce maintenance periods. I do this by sharing best practice, leading cross-functional projects, and targeting common challenges that are impacting us all, ensuring we deliver sustainable improvements and long-term value.

Quick-fire questions

Alexia is inspired by people making an impact

Age: 26

Qualifications: BEng aerospace engineering with manufacturing; MSc through life system sustainment, Association of Project Managers – Project Management Qualification; University of London Business and Marketing Strategies Specialisation.

Biggest engineering inspiration: People I have met who are achieving incredible things and making a real impact inspire me. Seeing others succeed and push boundaries continues to motivate me to keep developing, striving for more, and doing the best I can.

Most-used technology: my laptop – I could not do my job without it.

Three words that describe you: driven, organised and personable

What has been your biggest achievement or success in the last year?

Achieving chartership in August 2025 at the age of 25 was a huge personal achievement for me. I first set this goal in 2018 when I found out I would be joining Roll-Royce as an engineering degree apprentice. I was determined to become a Chartered Engineer by the age of 25 or younger. Reaching that milestone and becoming one of only 12 women ever to achieve chartership at that age or below was an incredibly proud moment and a real reflection of the hard work and commitment I have put into my career so far. Receiving an MBE for my services to education and skills in HM The King’s 2026 Birthday Honours has also been a huge honour.

Person seated in an aircraft cockpit, holding the controls, with instrument panels and airfield visible through the windows.

Are new and emerging technologies having an impact on your role? If so, how?

New and emerging technologies are beginning to influence the wider engineering landscape, particularly in areas such as digitalisation, data analytics, and predictive maintenance.

Within my role, the integration of new technologies is a gradual process because of the complexity and long-life nature of the assets we support. While there is not a direct day-to-day impact currently, these technologies will play an increasingly important role in how we improve availability and maintenance efficiency in the future.

Person presenting on stage with a microphone at an event, with a lectern and presentation screen in the background.

What is your advice to budding engineers?

Discover which area of engineering genuinely interests and excites you, set your ambitions high, and take every opportunity to learn from the people around you. Engineering offers such a broad range of opportunities, so staying curious, asking questions, and being open to learning from others can make a huge difference to your development and career journey.

How does it feel to win this award?

Being selected as a Young Engineer of the Year feels fantastic. It recognised not only the journey I have been on so far, but also the impact I am making within the engineering sector and the potential others see in me for the future. With the support of the Academy and this award, I feel incredibly motivated and excited for what lies ahead.

Two people seated on a red studio sofa during a BBC Points West broadcast, with large screens and graphics in the background. — Alexia chats to the host of the BBC News Points West programme

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