Our engineering community gathered on Tuesday 20 June to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day.

Professor Julie McCann, Faculty Ambassador for Women opened the event, commenting on its theme, ‘making the invisible, visible’. Speaking at the session were:

• Professor Mary Ryan, Vice Provost for Research and Enterprise
• Professor Tina van de Flierdt, Head of the Department of Earth Science and Engineering
• Professor Sandrine Heutz, Head of the Department of Materials
• Professor Rylie Green, Head of the Department of Bioengineering

Each of the panellists spoke about their journeys to (and at) Imperial, reflecting on how they forged a successful path as a woman engineer. They also gave an overview of their current research, from voyaging to the Antarctic to next-generation bioelectronic devices.

The floor was then turned over to the audience, whose questions enabled meaningful conversations about experiences with imposter syndrome, building resilience and the socioeconomic factors that can limit or encourage women to get involved with and stay in engineering.

As is traditional for Women in Engineering Network events, the session concluded with cake-cutting, powering post-panel networking. Attendees were also able to explore research posters from Imperial’s female engineering community.