Solving problems and changing lives: Imperial celebrates women in engineering

Imperial celebrates International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) by asking our women engineers and students what engineering means to them.

INWED, now in its seventh year, is an international awareness campaign that raises the profile of women in engineering and focuses attention on the career opportunities available in the industry.

The celebrations, run by the Women’s Engineering Society and which this year include a webinar in lieu of in-person events, takes place annually on 23 June.

We need women at every level of seniority throughout academia and industry to ensure that young girls hoping to enter the field, and women already working as engineers, see role models they can learn from and aspire to be. Chloe Armour PhD student, Department of Chemical Engineering

In a new video, four Imperial engineers talk to us about what engineering means to them, and why inspiring women and girls to work as engineers is so important.

PhD student Humera Ansari, of the Department of Chemical Engineering, said: “We need more women in engineering because any solution to a problem is incomplete until we can say it caters to everyone’s needs. Only a diverse and inclusive team can come up with such a solution.”

Dr Adriana Paluszny, of the Department of Earth Science and Engineering, said that to her, engineering means: “Seeing a bridge that you helped build, or seeing a computer programme you wrote being used to solve problems and change the lives of people or industrial processes – and working in a balanced environment makes a big difference for the team.”

PhD student Chloe Armour, of the Department of Chemical Engineering, said: “We need women at every level of seniority throughout academia and industry to ensure that young girls hoping to enter the field, and women already working as engineers, see role models they can learn from and aspire to be.”

Dr Selene Pirola, of the Department of Chemical Engineering, said: “When I chose to study engineering, someone told me it was an unusual choice for a woman. Let me tell you – do what you love and you will be able to achieve everything.”

Share your experiences in the comments or on social media using #ShapeTheWorld, #INWED20 and #HerImperial.

For more on women at Imperial see Her Imperial.