WOMEN have been taking the world of science by storm with a ground-breaking course.

Sarah Steele, a project leader at Smith & Nephew, and Jennifer Rabone, a software engineer at Terrington Systems, are two of the first women to achieve NVQ level 4 in the Women in Science and ICT Management Course.

The free course was launched by Science City York and York Training Centre last year for women working in the science and technology sector.

Gareth Lloyd Jones, chairman of Science City York, visited Sarah and Jennifer at their workplaces in York Science Park to present them with their awards.

The course included ten workshops covering subjects including "improving the environment through energy efficiency", "conducting quality audits", "mentor training", "project co-ordination" and "dealing with poor performance in your team".

Six other women achieved Level 4 on the course, and two more achieved Level 3.

Sarah said: "I found the course very useful for meeting other people in similar positions to me, particularly within the same sector, and to be able to discuss with them the challenges we may face in management.

"The information we learned and the experiences we shared will be valuable for my role at Smith & Nephew."

Jennifer said: "I very much enjoyed learning about the different roles people play within a company and the skills they need to do their jobs effectively.

"It also helped me to gain some managerial experience and has improved my confidence when working with other people."

Mr Lloyd Jones said: "York's science and technology sector continues to expand at a rapid pace and it is vital that local people have the right skills to take advantage of this.

"Providing tailored training courses such as this will be essential to its growth and future success.

Updated: 11:33 Wednesday, June 02, 2004