Female Engineer of the Year Ljupka Vrteva to headline as Keynote Speaker at the 15th IRT Industrial Forum

25 Jan 2024

Known for its inspiring stories, the IRT Industrial Forum will once again be full of enthusiasm and passion for innovative solutions. One such story is the life and career of Ljupka Vrteva, the current Female Engineer of the Year, who will be the keynote speaker on the opening day of the event in Portorož on 10 June.

Originally from Macedonia, Ljupka's family moved to Slovenia, paving the way for Ljupka to train as a mechanical engineer. With a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, she works as a development engineer in the field of building heating, ventilation and cooling systems at Petrol, where she also manages a solar power plant project. Ljupka's story, particularly inspiring for young girls, resonates with her empowering mantra: "Be brave and different, always and everywhere. Everyone has wings, you just have to fly. Perseverance and dedication will pay off.” Her unique background, rooted in a family of musicians and economists, only underlines her distinctive path to embracing natural sciences. Although she was a very creative child, she wanted to channel her energy into something tangible. Among other things, she says her imagination led her to engineering.

In this year's "Female Engineer of the Year", a collaboration between IRT3000 magazine and Mediade, now in its sixth year, Ljupka Vrteva came out on top. From a pool of ten nominees, she was chosen by 92 members of four committees as "President of the Class". Vrteva's achievement underscores the project's "We will be Engineers!" goal to inspire youth, especially girls, to explore careers in engineering, natural sciences, technology and innovation. In addition to Vrteva, candidates from the fields of civil engineering, robotics, energy sector, pharmacy, quality management and IT were nominated. The symbolic statuette was presented to her by the 2022 Engineer of the Year, Rosana Kolar, a mechanical engineer and aircraft mechanic at Adria Tehnika, during a ceremony at Cankarjev dom on 18 January 2024.

With her story, Vrteva is sure to be an interesting speaker at this year's IRT Industrial Forum, the only event of its kind in our country, organised for the 15th time by IRT3000 magazine. The forum, named after the acronym IRT - Innovation, R&D, Technology - serves as a crucial hub for exchanging ideas, staying up-to-date and connecting industrial and academic stakeholders in Slovenia and the wider Western Balkans.