An apprentice at Sony UK Technology Centre in Pencoed won the Rising Star Award at the 2019 Make UK Manufacturing Awards (held in Cardiff earlier this month) (www.makeuk.org).

Max Rochefort-Shugar, aged 22, has been working at Sony UK TEC for three years and is the first candidate to take part in the company’s recently established software and electronic apprenticeship.

He has also just started the second year of a part-time applied software engineering degree course at Swansea University.

Within six months of beginning his apprenticeship, Max was tasked with writing a software tool for modelling the Pencoed factory; this tool is still in use today.

He has also written a software execution system that is currently being used to manufacture, test and configure all Raspberry Pi models made at the facility.

Karl Bibey, principal engineer at Sony UK TEC (www.sonypencoed.co.uk), said: “Max has made an outstanding contribution to the department over the last few years.

"He has a passion for technology that often involves him researching software topics beyond what is necessary for his course work.

"Every new module that he studies in college results in a host of suggestions about how that particular technology could be applied to real- world problems that the company faces.

“As a third-year apprentice, the help and assistance that he voluntarily gives less experienced members of the team has also been noted and is greatly appreciated.

"He has shown real skill, energy and commitment in all the projects that he has been involved in, both in teams and individually.

"His positive attitude and keenness to learn make him a real asset to our team and a role model for other apprentices within the company.”