"Finding and celebrating the success of inspirational female role models is vital given that the UK currently has the lowest proportion of female engineering professionals in Europe at 6%," said the IET.
It added: "If the lack of women in engineering continues, the UK will be in a significantly weakened position to find the 1.82 million people with engineering skills that employers are projected to need from 2012 - 2022 (according to Engineering UK)."
The 2015 Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards are aimed at raising the profile of the most impressive female engineers and encouraging them to become role models to inspire the next generation of female engineers and help address the gender imbalance in engineering and science.
Former winners of the awards include Naomi Mitchison, a senior hardware engineer at Selex ES, Abbie Hutty, a spacecraft engineer currently working on Europe's first Rover Mission to Mars and Yewande Akinola, an environmental services engineer with a passion for innovation and sustainable water supply.
IET president-elect, Naomi Climer (pictured), said: "Engineering is a hugely exciting and diverse career with the opportunity to do something life- or world-changing. The Young Women Engineer of the Year awards, which have been running for 39 years, are all about finding role models to get girls – and young people in general - excited about the possibilities of an engineering career."
The deadline for entry to the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year awards is 30 June 2015.