GoSmarter Newsroom
Nightingale HQ and Steph Locke Shortlisted for Two Wales STEM Awards 2026
We’re delighted to share two shortlistings at once. Nightingale HQ is a finalist for the Sustainability Award at the Wales STEM Awards 2026. The judges recognised our work driving sustainability in the steel sector. And our co-founder Steph Locke is a finalist for STEM Woman of the Year, for her continuous work championing STEM and supporting others into the sector.
Cardiff Metropolitan University sponsors the Wales STEM Awards, which shine a spotlight on the businesses, organisations, educators, and individuals driving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics forward across Wales. Being named a finalist in two categories in the same year is a first for us. It means a great deal to the whole team.
Sustainability Award: Nightingale HQ
The Sustainability Award recognises organisations making a measurable difference to Wales’ environmental goals. Our case rests on the numbers our GoSmarter platform delivers every day for steel and metals manufacturers. Smarter cutting plans cut scrap. Offcut and emissions tools turn waste into a number a plant manager can act on. A Mill Certificate Reader removes hours of manual paperwork, so engineers can focus on the shop floor.
Steel is energy-intensive to produce, so every tonne that isn’t wasted at the cutting stage is a tonne that never needed re-smelting. That’s the practical, unglamorous end of sustainability we build for. Not a pledge on a website, but fewer offcuts in the skip and less carbon in the air.
2026 Sustainability Award finalists:
- Dragons RFC Limited
- Kenfig Nature Trust
- Nellie Technologies Ltd
- Nightingale HQ
STEM Woman of the Year: Steph Locke
Steph Locke is Co-founder and Head of Product at GoSmarter, and a former Microsoft Data & AI Most Valuable Professional (MVP). Her STEM Woman of the Year shortlisting recognises her continuous work championing STEM in Wales and supporting others into the sector — from mentoring and speaking engagements to building the AI tools at the heart of GoSmarter itself.
2026 STEM Woman of the Year finalists:
- Emma Wride — AstroCymru Ltd
- Josephine Grech — Cardiff and Vale College
- Katerina Kaouri — Cardiff University
- Steph Locke — Nightingale HQ
- Dr Geertje Van Keulen — Swansea University
- Beth Nurse — University of South Wales
- Rhian Kinsella — University of South Wales
“The standard of entries has been incredibly high, showcasing the innovation, ambition and forward-thinking talent driving STEM forward across Wales,” said Liz Brookes, co-founder of the Wales STEM Awards.
“Being shortlisted alongside people and organisations doing such serious work for Wales is genuinely humbling,” said Steph Locke. “Sustainability in steel isn’t glamorous, but it’s necessary, and I’m proud of the team putting the work in every day to make it happen.”
The ceremony
The Wales STEM Awards will announce the winners at a reimagined ceremony at Techniquest in Cardiff on Thursday 1 October 2026. The ceremony falls during the science discovery centre’s 40th anniversary year. We’re looking forward to a great night out with the rest of the Welsh STEM community, and we congratulate every finalist across every category.
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Further reading
Build traceability in. From day one.
Every cert linked to stock at goods-in. Every heat number tracked to despatch. Every audit trail built automatically. Not assembled in a rush the week before an inspection.