QE Award

QE Award QE Award

Public Voting is Now Open

Help decide who will become the first-ever European Quality Engineer of the Year.

After a careful evaluation of all nominations, our our experts have selected three outstanding finalists. Each of them has made an exceptional contribution to advancing Quality Engineering through innovation, leadership, and measurable impact.

Now it's your turn.

Meet the Finalists

Read the finalists' stories, discover their achievements, and cast your vote for the candidate you believe deserves the title of European Quality Engineer of the Year 2026.

Monika Golec

Monika Golec

Senior Test Manager / Functional Test Lead | SBB / Swiss Federal Railways | Switzerland

Monika contributed to quality management within a large-scale SAP S/4 transformation programme at SBB. She helped introduce a structured, risk-based testing approach that connects business users, IT teams and testing specialists. Her key contribution was a two-stage validation of end-to-end processes: functional flows were validated before data migration was complete and repeated once migrated data became available. This allowed functional defects to be identified earlier and clearly separated from migration-related issues, instead of waiting for full migration readiness. She also strengthened test readiness, traceability and the transparency of quality risks across the programme.
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Petr Škoda

Petr Škoda

QA Competence Leader | Green:Code | Czech Republic

Petr initiated the development of GTS, an internal AI-supported tool used throughout the testing process at Green:Code. It generates test scenarios from user stories, assists testers during manual testing, interprets logs and prepares draft defect reports. The tool builds on a shared QA methodology he introduced across the company's deliveries, including risk-based regression testing and clearly defined quality gates before release. The impact was validated through a proof of concept with a measurable hypothesis: whether the team could deliver a release in the same or shorter time despite a larger scope, compared against historical Jira data.
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Mohammed Tammam Abou Rshaid

Mohammed Tammam Abou Rshaid

Software Test Engineer / QE Coach | Dedalus Healthcare | Austria

Tammam designed the Enhanced GenAI in Testing project at Allianz Technology, combining modern test automation with generative AI. He migrated and re-architected a Selenium-based regression suite into a Playwright framework and introduced workflows that generate draft test scenarios from requirements and API specifications and support defect triage. The project reduced regression testing time from four hours to 45 minutes and significantly decreased the effort required for manual test selection and triage. He has since applied and extended related quality engineering practices in the safety-critical environment of Dedalus Healthcare.
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Cast your vote

How the Winner Is Selected

The final result combines:

  • 70 % Expert Jury evaluation
  • 30 % Public Vote

Your vote helps recognize the Quality Engineering professional who has made an outstanding impact on products, teams, and the software quality community. 

Voting Rules

  • Voting is open until 31 August 2026.
  • You may vote for only one finalist.
  • Only one vote per person is allowed.
  • Fraudulent or automated votes will be removed.
  • The winner will be announced live during Tesena Fest 2026 on 25 September 2026 in Prague. 

Cast Your Vote

Why This Award Matters

The European Quality Engineer of the Year celebrates professionals who raise the quality of products, processes, and teams through outstanding Quality Engineering practices.

By taking part in the public vote, you help recognize excellence and support the people shaping the future of software quality across Europe. 

About the Award

European Quality Engineer of the Year is a new award celebrating outstanding individuals who significantly improve the quality of products, practices, and people through exceptional application of Quality Engineering principles. 

The award will be presented for the first time in 2026 during Tesena Fest 2026, where one overall winner will be announced from three finalists. 

The winner will receive: 

  • The title of European Quality Engineer of the Year
  • Travel and accommodation covered to attend Tesena Fest 2026
  • A complimentary ticket to Tesena Fest 2026
  • The honour of becoming the first-ever European Quality Engineer of the Year
  • A brand new iPhone 17
Who Can Apply or Be Nominated 

You can apply yourself or nominate someone else.

Award Category – What This Award Recognizes

The award will be given to the quality engineer who has demonstrably raised the quality of products, practices, and people within their team or organization through: 

  • exceptional application of Quality Engineering principles 
  • a strong quality-first mindset 
  • and a commitment to continuous improvement over time 

Eligible contributions may include: 

  • a single high-impact project, 
  • a long-term transformation, 
  • or a combination of both. 

Eligibility Criteria

The candidate must: 

  • Live and work in EEA countries, Switzerland, Great Britain, or Ukraine 
  • Have made their Quality Engineering contribution during the qualification period (1 January 2025 - 31 March 2026): 
    • within a European organization, or 
    • on a project with a clear European impact 
  • Have been actively working in a role with significant responsibility for quality, even if the job title does not explicitly include “Quality Engineer” 

Eligible roles may include, but are not limited to:

  • Quality Engineer / QA Engineer 
  • Test Engineer / Test Analyst 
  • Senior or Lead QA / QE 
  • Test Manager or QA Manager 
  • Software Engineer with a strong quality focus 
  • Software Development Engineer in test or Automation Engineer 
  • Delivery or Tech Lead with responsibility for quality outcomes 

The key requirement is that quality engineering was a core part of the candidate’s role and impact. 

Voting & Selection Process

From all valid applications: 

  • Three finalists will be selected 
  • The final decision combines expert judgment with the voice of the community
  • The winner will be announced live at Tesena Fest 2026 

Cast your vote

Join Tesena Fest 2026

Join Tesena Fest 2026

Meet Europe's Quality Engineering community. Secure your ticket today!
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