IET celebrates women in engineering with new exhibition

It aims to increase the profile of women in STEM and, in doing so, create new role models who will encourage generations of girls into careers and support women already working in STEM.

The new exhibit in the Mountbatten Exhibition room will be showcasing current winners and finalists of the IET’s Young Woman Engineer of the Year (YWE) Awards, highlighting the breadth of engineering in today’s society. Guests and delegates can also see what initiatives the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is working on, including its recent #SmashStereotypesToBits campaign, the Portrait of an Engineer photography series as well as its work to highlight the  inspiring career paths and amazing achievements these women engineers have accomplished.

An exhibit in the Watson-Watt room will focus on women in engineering and their contribution to the field and will be a retrospective look at the rich history of women in engineering, celebrating the trail blazers, women on the move and discoveries made by women.

Founded in 2009 by Suw Charman-Anderson, Ada Lovelace Day is now held every year on the second Tuesday of October. It features a flagship ‘science cabaret’ event in London at which women in STEM give short talks about their work or about other women who have inspired them, perform short comedy or musical interludes with a STEM focus.

This year the stellar line-up of women includes Prof Sunetra Gupta, epidemiologist; Chanuki Seresinhe, computer scientist; Dr Susie Maidment, palaeontologist; Dr Hilary Costello, engineer; Prof Emma McCoy, mathematician; Dr Diva Amon, marine scientist; Natasha Simons, science demo builder.

Suw Charman-Anderson, founder of Ada Lovelace Day, commented: “We are honoured that The IET is launching this exhibition of women in engineering on the tenth Ada Lovelace Day. Engineering is an increasingly important discipline, tackling socially important challenges that affect millions of lives around the world. It is essential that we inspire more girls and women to pursue engineering careers so that we can benefit from their talents, acumen and unique perspectives. This exhibition will inspire school children and adults alike, and we encourage all of our Ada Lovelace Day Live! Attendees to come early so that they can enjoy learning about women in engineering.”

Jo Foster, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at the IET, said: “Ada Lovelace Day Live! is an important event not only to celebrate women in STEM but to understand how far we have come in breaking down gender stereotypes. It is great to see more powerful woman role models in the industry and the exhibitions showcase just that!

“We’re really hoping guests will love travelling back through time to see women in engineering on the move and trailblasers of the past in the Watson-Watt room exhibit and what amazing work is being achieved by women in Engineering today in Mountbatten Exhibition room.”

Delegates will have the opportunity to see the new exhibitions in action and attend the Ada Lovelace Day Live! for an evening of entertainment.