Rosana Kolar, an aircraft engineer at Adria Tehnika, was declared the Woman Engineer of the Year as the title was awarded for the fifth year running to inspire young women to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

For Kolar hers is a dream job. She says she wanted to become an aircraft engineer since she was eleven. After graduating from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ljubljana, she started working as an aircraft mechanic at Adria Tehnika, an aircraft maintenance firm.

She is one of only few women working in passenger aircraft maintenance in Slovenia. Last year she received her first certificate, making her a B1 licenced aircraft engineer for the Airbus A320 Family aircraft.

Kolar was never drawn to office work, opting instead for a "more challenging but more effective" way to work in the profession.

"I started with the simplest aircraft maintenance work, which made me appreciate all my co-workers even more; from aircraft cleaners to colleagues with international certificates for several types of planes," she says.

A great engineer should not be afraid of what other people think, since often that is what blocks them from thinking further, says Kolar.

The jury saw Kolar's persistence, confidence and strong belief in her mission and recognised her as a pioneer of sorts in aviation, a field that is tied to strong stereotypes.

"Rosana sets a precedent for young girls that will be able to proudly announce their engineering dreams as children and ... tirelessly pursue them," they wrote.

The winner was chosen from ten nominees by a 119-strong jury, composed of past nominees, media representatives, teachers and students enrolled in the project We'll Be Women and Men Engineers and organisers.

The title is awarded by the IRT3000 magazine and the marketing company Mediade and their partners.

Kolar received the award at an event in Cankarjev Dom on 10 January, which was attended by President Nataša Pirc Musar and Minister for Digital Transformation Emilija Stojmenova Duh.

Stojmenova Duh was one of the nominees in 2018, while the winner in 2019 was Aida Kamišalić Latifić, who now serves as state secretary at Stojmenova Duh's office. At the time she worked as a researcher and lecturer at the Maribor Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

In the past two years the title went to Nataša Kovačević, a research project manager at Kolektor Group, and Jasna Hengović, a software developer at Cosylab. The first winner was Dora Domanjko, development engineer at RLS Merilna Tehnika, a manufacturer of advanced rotary and linear motion sensors.