Chief Petty Officer Engineering Technician (Marine Engineering) David Finney-Young was selected by the Worshipful company of Educators (WCOE) as the winner of the Royal Navy category of their Military ‘Best Educator Awards’.
David is a specialist in electrical equipment on HM Ships. During 16 years in the Navy, he has served onboard Type 42 and 45 Destroyers, Mine Counter Measure Vessels, and QEC Aircraft Carriers.
He is currently teaching Marine Engineering trainees how to identify and rectify faults.
Having recently served on both HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, David recognised ways to update Marine Engineering courses within DSMarE.
He proactively co-ordinated a review of all relevant courseware, ensuring content was modernised and made accessible for current learners. He then further produced a valuable aide-memoir for all Marine Engineers assigned to the QEC class of ship.
Additionally, he is an enthusiastic STEM ambassador who has fostered relationships with local universities to share best practice, leading to his selection as a judge for the Royal Navy Engineering Challenge at Leeds University Technical College.
He has also set up and ran STEM events for over 200 school children involving the Royal Navy and its industry partners.
David said: “It’s absolutely amazing and really nice to be recognised.
"It’s not just myself who has single-handedly achieved this, I’ve had a lot of inspiring mentors who have helped me along the way and I’ve been supported in every step by everyone at Sultan.
“I absolutely love innovation and introducing anything which helps improve things onboard ship.
"It’s important to empower those working below us to feel equipped and confident in our training so they can resolve issues.
“We’re always pushing the boundaries with new technology and designing new training packages.
"From first aspects of training to becoming the Subject Matter Experts, we continue to develop and can also work with our industry partners that we can lean on too.
"All of which allow us to produce the best outcome for the platforms that we use at sea.”