It’s International Women in Engineering Day. We checked in with some of our engineers to see what they enjoy about being an engineer, what advice they’d give to young women wanting to go into the industry, and why this day is important to them. Together We Engineer, to keep our customers safe.
Megan (Graduate Software Engineer): “I really enjoy having the opportunity to work on real-world problems and being able to see how things actually function. It's a lot of figuring things out as you go, and there is always a new problem to solve - which keeps it interesting.”
Dulce (Senior Mechanical Engineer): “It's an extremely diverse field, so you can work towards solving many different problems depending on what excites you. As a mechanical design engineer who has recently pivoted from the manufacturing field, I personally enjoy design discussions and giving life to an idea or design, it's where ingenuity, invention, or improvement come into play.”
Hayley (Senior Systems Engineer): “I've always really enjoyed the hands-on side of engineering; from integrating hardware and software, working onboard ships and submarines supporting a system to learning how to code. More recently modelling using Enterprise Architect. I have always loved a good database and spreadsheet.
I'm proud to be a woman in what is still a male dominated environment; it's not generally what people expect and have been surprised at what it is that I do.”
Megan: “Don't wait until you feel 100% ready - try new things. Be curious, ask questions and don't worry about ticking every box. No one knows everything from day one.”
Dulce: “Keep believing in yourself and dare to accept challenges. There’s more help available out there than we normally realize. And last but not least, enjoy the journey.”
Hayley: “Do it, don't let anything or anyone stop you. Don't be afraid to be the only girl in the room - be proud to stand out.”
Megan: “Days like this help to open up conversations, highlight role models, and give visibility - especially to young girls who are considering a career in engineering.“
Dulce: “Personally I believe that it’s an important day because it marks a call to action to enhance awareness about women's contributions, their career opportunities and much more.”
Hayley: “We need to encourage more girls and women into the field. I think it's still thought of as an unusual option but there have always been great female engineers in history - Ada Lovelace, Emily Roebling and Hedy Lamarr to name a few.”
If you want to hear more from Dulce or Hayley, we recently interviewed them for our Five Minutes With Series.
