Women in Engineering

You can’t always plan for everything, because more often than not life is what happens when you’re making other plans, as John Lennon said. That certainly was the case for Dr Catherine Ramsdale, VP of Device Engineering at PragmatIC as she explained she didn’t always know what she wanted to do, and as much as she has achieved in her career, it is down to natural evolution in the industry.

As the engineering industry becomes more diverse and equal, and we see an increasing number of women within the industry, it is a great sight to see and leads me to believe that all the hard work is paying off for women. However, when you then take a look at the statistics of diversity within leadership roles in the industry this isn’t as positive. So although we have reached some level of progress, and can see the number of women in engineering on the rise, why are these women not passing through to leadership roles - is there something deterring them?

WISE, the campaign for greater gender balance in STEM, says women are shaping our future with their technological, scientific and engineering discoveries and inventions. However, the organisation highlights that more needs to be done to ensure that more women do not miss out on these opportunities. The comments came as WISE announced its 2019 annual Award winners at a glittering event in London last night.

It’s no secret that science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are industries primarily dominated by men. The ratio of women earning jobs in these fields are extremely low compared to men. Statistics from 2017 show that women made up only 23% of the STEM workforce. Although this is low, this is 105,470 higher than the number in 2016.

Mandy Lester of Atkins has been selected as the winner of the Karen Burt Memorial Award during the centenary year of the Women's Engineering Society (WES). Mandy was nominated by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) for the Award which is presented in recognition of the best newly chartered woman engineer. Now in its 21st year, this prestigious title recognises the candidate's excellence and potential in the practice of engineering. It highlights the importance of having Chartered status; as well as offering recognition to contributions made by the candidate to the promotion of the engineering profession.

The 2019 Stevie Awards for Women in Business have selected Lisa Polter-Tennant, SVP for Global Client Relations at Verifi, as a finalist for their 2019 awards.Leading a team of 14, Lisa manages all client, partner, and reseller relationships globally. Under her stewardship, Lisa has built a team that has a shared passion for transparent collaboration and consistently looks for new ways to drive value and deliver meaningful solutions. In addition to managing global relationships for Verifi, Lisa is a long-term Advisory Board member for PaymentsEd. 

Helena Rivers, Director at AECOM and Fellow and Trustee at the Institution of Mechnical Engineers (IMechE) has been announced as one of the top 100 Most Influential Women in the Engineering Sector. The list, produced by board appointments firm Inclusive Boards in partnership with the Financial Times, was officially released at the Inclusive Boards: Women in Engineering Leadership Conference on October 22nd.

This year Ada Lovelace Day fell on Tuesday 8th October, and female STEM workers of today are facing the same challenges she did 200 years ago. Originally founded in 2009 by technologist Suw Charman-Anderson, the day celebrates the achievements of women in STEM careers, and was created in memory of one standout individual: Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer.

Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering Dr Dame Sue Ion DBE FREng FRS will urge young women to take up a career in engineering to help address the world’s greatest challenges, when she gives the autumn term Principal’s Lecture at Cheltenham Ladies’ College on Saturday 12 October 2019.

Having shown an aptitude for maths all her life, it was a natural fit for Sophie Harker, Senior Engineer in Flight Control Systems at BAE Systems, to take the STEM path in life, but it was a little trip to the US that proved the defining moment in her journey. Electronic Specifier’s Anna Flockett caught up with Harker after she was named as the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award.