Technip in the UK, a leader in the field of subsea engineering and construction, celebrated National Women in Engineering Day on 23rd June by hosting an open evening at its offices in Westhill, Aberdeenshire. The event, aimed at promoting engineering disciplines as a career option to secondary school age pupils, attracted over 100 attendees.
Girls from local schools visited a variety of stands to find out more about a wide range of engineering disciplines and talk to the female engineers who work in those areas. They also enjoyed guided tours of the Technip workshops. Advisers were on hand to provide information on routes into engineering through apprenticeship and graduate schemes at the company and the aim was to give a real insight into what it means to work in the energy industry.
Bill Morrice, Managing Director of Technip in the UK, commented:
“We were delighted to be able to support this important, nationwide, initiative and I am happy to say it created a great deal of interest from local students. We have a responsibility to do all we can to encourage the next generation of women into engineering roles and to highlight the vast job opportunities the industry can offer. The response we had from the pupils was really encouraging and we hope to see many of them shaping the future of our industry.”
Attendees were also given an introduction to engineering institutions including the Women’s Engineering Society (WES), whose representative was also at the event.
While Technip already has mature policies in place for recruiting, developing and promoting talent – both men and women – since 2013, gender diversity has become one of the company’s key strategic priorities.
Katy Crawford currently works as a Rotating Equipment Engineer at ConocoPhillips in Aberdeen. Katy is also currently the Educational Representative and Vice Treasurer for the Aberdeen Young Members Panel and has been an active volunteer for a few years. She was invited to attend the Technip evening to represent the Institution and said,
“I had a great time at the event, I thought it was very well organised and such a fantastic idea. I spoke to several girls and their parents during the evening. I talked about what the Institution of Mechanical Engineers is, and what it does in general; as well as explaining the various levels of professional registration and what those mean within an engineer’s career and development. People were interested to know the decisions I made when I was their age, right up to university and my day-to-day role. The other main question I was asked was about the different types of engineering they could do and how to make informed choices. All of the girls were great to speak to and seemed very enthusiastic, which I was delighted to see.”
Katy felt it was an excellent evening: not only did she thoroughly enjoy being involved, but she felt that Technip was really meeting the needs of the local student community, and helping some young women access the information they need to make important decisions.
Equate Scotland organised a joint event with the
Scottish Circle of WES, held at the IET in Glasgow. The event combined presentations, a Q&A panel and networking opportunities.
Equate Scotland, established in 2006, aims to make a positive difference for women in science, engineering, technology and the built environment. The organisation is based in the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Creative Industries at Edinburgh Napier University. Sandra Mulligan, Business Development Manager for the Institution in Scotland, attended the Glasgow evening. Sandra is on the steering group for Equate Scotland and invited and encouraged female members in the area to attend and support the event.
Lindsay Isaacs, Project Officer at Equate Scotland, said the occasion was a great success:
“There was a really lively and upbeat atmosphere, with about 45 women attending on the night, representing a huge range of engineering sectors and drawn from all stages of the engineering career path.”
The evening started with four inspirational speakers talking about their personal stories as engineers, followed by a Q&A panel.
Suzanne Birney AMIMechE, an award-winning apprentice CAD technologist at Doosan Babcock Ltd, was invited to speak about her journey into engineering and take part in the panel. Suzanne was joined by: renowned Professor Liz Tanner of the University of Glasgow who, among her many associations, is a Fellow of the Institution; Sue Cresswell, Associate Technical Director at Atkins; and Fiona Rankin, an engineering masters graduate from the University of Strathclyde, who has gained a place on a prestigious international graduate scheme with Maersk Oil.
Suzanne is pictured being presented with a 2014 Hammermen Award for the Best Engineering student on an NC, HNC or HND course at Glasgow Clyde College – Anniesland Campus in April 2014 at the Trades House in Glasgow.
Suzanne commented:
“The job is a fantastic opportunity for me at such a young age as I am able to gain experience of the industry while completing important qualifications. The WES/Equate event was a great success and allowed me to share my experiences while networking with other established female engineers.”
Attendees then had plenty of time to meet and network over canapés and a glass or two of wine, and there was a gigantic cake to make sure that everyone could celebrate the 95th birthday of WES in style!
Lindsay says that feedback from the event was incredibly positive. She confirmed:
“Eighty-nine per cent of attendees said that they found it very or quite useful. There is also a clear desire for Equate Scotland and WES to host more evening networking events, as 96% of attendees said that they would definitely or probably attend a similar event in future.”
The two organisations encouraged attendees to make sure they were kept up to date about similar events by signing up to the
Equate Scotland and
Women’s Engineering Society newsletters.