A senior development engineer at Gloucestershire-based global engineering company Renishaw has been selected as one of the UK's Top 50 Women in Engineering in 2017.

Lucy Ackland (pictured), who joined the company as an apprentice, received the accolade having worked on several exciting projects at Renishaw and played an active role in its outreach programme.

The Top 50 Women in Engineering initiative is organised by the Daily Telegraph in partnership with the Women's Engineering Society (WES) and employers in the industry.

The Top 50 Women in Engineering was launched in 2016 to celebrate women's achievements in the industry.

The 2017 list is made up of outstanding female engineers under the age of 35, who have all made a significant contribution to the field.

Lucy joined Renishaw when she was aged 16 and went on to study Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of South Wales, where she achieved a First Class Honours degree.

She led the project team for the RenAM 500M, Renishaw's latest metal additive manufacturing system, which was fully designed in-house.

She has also helped partner universities, colleges and businesses to help develop technology and training.

Lucy is actively involved in Renishaw's education outreach programme, where she has been a science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) ambassador for nine years.

She now runs weekly events to inspire young girls to consider engineering careers and show young people where an apprenticeship can take them.

"Historically, women's achievements in STEM have gone unnoticed, and this needs to change," she said. "The Top 50 Women in Engineering celebrates the great work done by women in the engineering sector.

"The awards showcase the amazing work that women are doing, highlighting how women are performing and achieving so much.

"Showcasing these achievements gives young women role models, challenges stereotypes and shows that engineering is an exciting career path."

Chris Pockett, head of communications at Renishaw, added: "We are very proud of this recognition for Lucy, who works tirelessly to promote engineering to young people.

"Only nine per cent of engineers in the UK are female, a figure which puts us behind the rest of Europe.

"It is important to promote the achievements of female engineers to change the status quo and open up a new pool of talent to help solve the engineering skills shortage."

Lucy was also recognised for her engineering successes in 2014, when she won the WES prize at the Institution of Engineering and Technology's (IET) Young Woman Engineer Awards, and was a finalist in the Young Woman of the Year category.

In 2016, she was highly commended in the Woman of the Year category at the Bristol and Bath Women in Business Awards.