INVENT and innovate – it’s what women do, writes Catherine Johns, Innovation and Business Growth Director at Business Durham.

Scotchguard, computers, retractable dog leads, the circular saw, Tipp-Ex, and beer were all invented by women.

Do you know the name Grace Hopper? She invented the computer. Or rather, a computer, Harvard's Mark I computer in 1944. The computer terms bug and debugging refer to Grace actually having to remove moths from this computer. In the 1970s, she pushed for the US Department of Defense to replace its large centralized systems with networks of small, distributed computers. Sound familiar?

In the North-East, we’re proud to have many women leading the way in the technology innovation field. Sally Waterston, director at IT company Waterstons in Durham, started out as a programmer. Kerry Willumson is head of HR resourcing and talent at Sage. Janet Ross of BT and Giselle Stewart of Ubisoft are both Board Directors at Dynamo, an industry-led initiative focusing on growing the tech sector in the North-East.

What about Bette Nesmith Graham, who patented ‘Liquid Paper’ in 1958? Gillette bought her company in 1979 for $47.5m. But then the word-processor came along and, well, when was the last time you saw a bottle of Tipp-Ex?

Invention and innovation, and getting out at the right time, are essential skills for today’s world.

Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE, Women’s Business Council chair and chief executive of MITIE Group plc, has recently stressed the need for the UK to fully capitalise on all people’s skills, regardless of their gender, to help tackle the unprecedented challenges the economy faces. Failure to do so risks the UK’s international competitiveness.

This is why Business Durham is sponsoring a new category at the WIN Awards – the STEM Award - to find exceptional women in these fields.

These awards have become a real fixture in the regional business calendar. Eagerly anticipated, the WIN Awards are a great chance to showcase hard work and achievement.

In this year’s new STEM award category, Business Durham and the award organisers are looking for women who have pioneered new discoveries or been instrumental in bringing the benefits of those discoveries to market for economic and social impact.

We want the next generation of women scientists and engineers to see today’s role models and for them to know that they can be one of them.

We’re urging all women leading the way in STEM careers to enter the WIN Awards by logging onto www.winawards.co.uk. You can nominate yourself or someone else.

The closing date is September 4.