The Ipswich engineer who took a chance on tech and earned a national shortlisting
Xenia Zimmerman moved to the UK from Germany to study literature. She had no coding experience and no plans to work in technology. Now she helps protect the underwater cables that keep Britain connected to the world, and has been shortlisted for a national apprenticeship award.
Why it matters: Xenia, who is based in Ipswich, is one of nine finalists in the running for the Apprentice of the Year award at the 2026 Apprenticeship Guide Awards, in recognition of her work at BT.
The bigger picture: Xenia had originally been heading towards a career in the humanities, having initially moved to Scotland from Germany to pursue a Comparative Literature and English degree. But she pivoted after realising her creativity could also be applied in the technology sector to "find new solutions to difficult problems."
She is now a Subsea Network Engineering Professional at BT, where her role helps maintain the underwater cable estate that connects the UK mainland with the other parts of the world.
The details: Xenia completed the Digital and Technology Solutions (Software Engineering) degree apprenticeship at the University of Suffolk last year, graduating with first class honours.
Despite beginning the programme with no prior coding experience, she achieved the highest score in her cohort for her dissertation, which used artificial intelligence to help predict when ships might accidentally damage undersea telecommunications cables.
What they're saying: "I didn't have a technical background before starting the apprenticeship and felt like I had a lot of catching-up when I first started," Xenia said. "Now that I have completed my apprenticeship, it is rewarding to have my hard work recognised with this shortlisting."
She added: "I wanted to learn the skills to fix problems with technology. Luckily, I found my niche in a really interesting team along the way, and I'm now applying my knowledge to protecting critical national infrastructure in the form of subsea telecommunications cables."
Yvonne Malpass, director of apprenticeships at the University of Suffolk, said: "Xenia consistently exceeded expectations and demonstrated excellent academic growth during her time with us, as well as proving herself to be a hard-working team player and advocate for STEM careers. We wish her every success at the awards and in her future career."
Jane Atkinson, senior manager of BT's Subsea Team, added: "She consistently demonstrates technical curiosity, independence and maturity beyond her experience, and has made a genuine impact on our team and the wider business."
The bottom line: Xenia's story is a reminder that apprenticeships can open doors to careers people might never have imagined for themselves, and that starting from scratch is no barrier to excellence.
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