Imperial celebrates women in engineering

Staff and students celebrated International Women in Engineering Day on 23 June with a range of activities throughout the week.

The Faculty of Engineering hosted a panel discussion featuring talks from four female professors, followed by a networking lunch attended by President Alice Gast.

Speaking about the importance of the occasion, Su Nandy, Senior HR Manager in the Faculty of Engineering, said: "It was great to see so many activities across the College that celebrated the success of our women in engineering. It’s important that we continue to provide support to all our community and inspire the next generation of engineers."

The recently launched WomenInSTEM group held a speed dating lunch to mark the occasion and help new members join the community.

Eloise Matheson, part of the WomenInSTEM group, said: "This was a speed-meeting lunch and get-together where our members, across all departments and academic levels, could meet and chat about their work, lives and what they want to see in the future regarding both the group and inclusion, diversity and equality at Imperial in general. It was a great success!"

Meanwhile a group of undergraduate students from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering held a dinner for the Imperial College RSM Women in Science and Engineering.

There was also a lot of activity across social media, as staff and students came out in force to show their support for the day.

The College Instagram account was taken over by students throughout the week to showcase the kind of research that takes place every day.

The Department of Chemical Engineering shared blogs, photos and news stories throughout the week, including a special edition of the ‘ChemEng Conversations’ series focusing on International Women In Engineering Day.

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The Department of Bioengineering held its annual Bioengineering Lecture, this year featuring a talk from distinguished biological engineer Professor Natalia Trayanova, while Earth Science and Engineering featured profiles of its female staff in an article.

The Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering framed its staff throughout the week while staff in the Dyson School of Design Engineering took the opportunity to showcase some of their latest toys:

HerImperial

The College also launched a new website as part of the #HerImperial campaign to celebrate the inspiring stories of women who are studying and working at Imperial, as well as the achievements of those who have gone on to help change the world after graduating.

Telegraph Top 50

The Top 50 Women in Engineering 2018 were announced in the Sunday Telegraph, featuring Maria Ribera Vincent, a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Aeronautics.

For 2018, the theme was Returners or Transferrers - nominations were available to women working in engineering or allied sector/discipline, having either returned after a break of at least 18 months or transferred to engineering from another sector.