On the Friday of Week 10 last term, a group of eleven Year 11 and 12 QAHS students were fortunate enough to attend a breakfast, run by Engineers Australia, in celebration of International Women in Engineering Day. Events such as these are held annually across Australia to recognize and congratulate the innovative contributions of women in Engineering and encourage and inspire young women to pursue a career as an engineer. This amazing opportunity was made available to us through the generous sponsorship by GHD Consulting (sponsored Year 11) and AECOM Consulting (sponsored Year 12) and we would also like to extend our thanks to Georgie Costin, Amy McCormack, and Jen Charlesworth who were our hosts and to Academy parent Sharon Fong for alerting QAHS to the opportunity. Additionally, we would also like to thank Mrs. Rebgetz and Mr. So for coordinating this event.
Not only were we treated to a lovely breakfast, but we were also presented with an amazing networking opportunity to talk to other guests and learn about their engineering experiences. One such thing that I learnt was just how vast civil engineering actually was. Not only was it just bridges and infrastructure, but many civil engineers are also responsible for planning efficient waterways and sewage pipes, management of traffic control for everyday roads as well as directing traffic at concerts and sport events, and even for creating infrastructure to deal with air pollution and other harmful waste. For me, this was a huge eye-opener as I used to think that being a civil engineer would be somewhat boring as I thought they only looked at the structural properties of bridges and skyscrapers.
After breakfast, a panel discussion was held where three women, with a whole variety of experiences and specialties, spoke about the theme 'make safety seen.' This theme refers to the issue of safety within the workplace for female engineers. Although the equality between genders in the workforce is much better than in the past, the panelists explained that in just the past few years they have seen an undeniable positive change in the ratios of women to men within fields of engineering and the acceptance of female engineers. After the panelists finished answering the set questions about this theme, which they did excellently, we were then given the opportunity to ask questions.
As a whole, this event was an excellent opportunity that was both helpful and encouraging for us, as young women wanting to go into the field of engineering in the future. It was also very inspiring to see the successes of women in engineering over the last few years and it has given us much insight as to what this pathway is like.
Emma Eakin & Francesca Crowther
Year 11 Students