Climer studied chemistry at Imperial College, London, before joining the BBC as an engineer and has worked in technical roles at BBC Radio, BBC World Service and BBC News as well as at ITV and local radio. Until 2015 she was president of Sony’s Media Cloud Services global division.
With a strong interest in diversity issues, Climer has been an active campaigner for gender diversity within the engineering profession in the UK.As a result of this, she was short-listed for a WISE Women of Outstanding Achievement Award For Leadership and Inspiration in 2012 and in 2014 was awarded the International Association of Broadcast Manufacturers (IABM) Industry Woman of the Year.
Since becoming the IET’s first female president, Climer has been trying to dispel the myth that engineering is a male profession as women currently make up just 6% of the UK’s engineering professionals. To this end she has launched the ‘Engineer a Better World’ campaign that aims to change perceptions amongst parents and children, especially girls, by showing them how diverse and creative engineering roles can be.
The award will be presented at the University of Huddersfield’s Awards Ceremonies in July.