“Engineering is a creative profession.”

20 Jan 2026

The female Engineer of the Year 2025 title was awarded to Dr Eva Pirc, a development engineer at Dewesoft, where she designs and tests electronic circuits and develops new technological solutions.

The jury wrote: “Eva is a role model showing that the creative spirit in engineering not only exists, but truly comes to life there. Her work is a fusion of two seemingly separate worlds: technology and imagination.”

As Eva herself emphasizes: “Where would we get without imagination?”This idea lies at the heart of her mission. She wants to bring engineering closer to young people as a creative profession—as a field in which knowledge, driven by imagination, pushes boundaries and changes the world for the better.

At the award ceremony, she highlighted: “Children should be introduced to engineering earlier, not just by chance. We should do more to preserve their imagination and playfulness later on during their school years. For me, understanding was key. Only if you truly understand things, you can continue working with them. That’s where the space for imagination and innovation opens up.”

This year marked the eighth consecutive edition of the selection. In addition to the winner, the top ten nominees included (in alphabetical order): Ajda Zavrtanik Drglin, programmer and head of the artificial intelligence working group at the National and University Library (NUK); Barbara Kalšek, site manager at Pomgrad; Eva Pirc, development engineer for electronics at Dewesoft; Iza Resnik Strozak, quality and environment manager at MM Količevo; Kaja Jaklin, senior data engineer and team lead at GEN-I; Manca Krumpačnik, junior research specialist at Plastika Skaza; Marta Pregl, senior expert in process technologies at Lek, a member of the Sandoz Group; Nuša Bremec, toolshop technologist at MAHLE Electric Drives Bovec; Rebeka Danica Pacek, device design engineer at Iskra PIO; and Tadeja Volaušek, head of chemical and technological projects at Nanoten.

Eva Pirc will also be a guest at this year’s IRT Industrial Forum and will address participants in Portorož on the very first day of the forum.