Women in Engineering

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.

Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman will host a SOE Women in Engineering event in London this November, which will see panellists from across the engineering world will convene in London to discuss the role of schools in promoting positive messages about modern, cutting-edge engineering and career opportunities within engineering-related sectors.

Ørsted is partnering with Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut in space, in a bid to encourage people to take action on climate change. Space Safari, a 360° VR project launching today, blasts the user into space and gives them a unique view over planet Earth from hundreds of kilometres away. 

Sulzer strives to promote and maintain an inclusive, diverse and empowering working environment. This has been recognised by the Empowering Women in Industry awards in the nomination of six of Sulzer’s employees as finalists across nine of the eleven categories. The conference and awards gala, taking place on 26th September in Chicago, IL, US, celebrates the excellence of female professionals in a male-dominated industry to promote gender equality.

Ideagen, the Nottingham-headquartered, global software firm, is teaming up with one of the top academies in Nottingham, Nottingham Girls’ Academy, as it looks to raise career prospects for women who want a career in technology. The Ruddington-based company has joined with Nottingham Girls’ Academy as part of the ‘Ideagen Women in Tech’ programme.

Here at Electronic Specifier we are always keen to champion female engineers and to highlight the growing skills gap in STEM related subjects, made worse by the significant gender disparity in technology, science and maths.