Media Molecule studio head named Australian Woman of the Year in the UK

Siobhan Reddy, co-founder and studio director at Tearaway developer Media Molecule, has been named the Australian Woman of the Year in the U.K. for 2013, an award sponsored by Qantas Airways and the networking organization Australian Business.

Reddy, who was born in Sydney but moved to the U.K. in the late 1990s and runs the Guildford, U.K.-based Media Molecule, received the honor in London last night.

"I feel it's given me probably a bit of a rocket up the bum in some way," said Reddy to the Australian Associated Press. "I've had my head down for so long just making things, that I've been bad in realizing how low the numbers of women are within games. In the last months I've started to think more about how I can encourage young women to get into games."

This year marks the sixth annual Australian Woman of the Year in the U.K. award. In addition to the honor, Reddy's prize package includes a free international business class to Sydney or Melbourne.

Last month, the BBC Radio program Woman's Hour named Reddy one of the 100 most powerful women in the U.K., an honor she shares with women such as Queen Elizabeth II, Adele and J.K. Rowling.