Celebrating women in engineering
On November 14, 2012, it was all about the women at the Faculty of Engineering.
The Faculty hosted 110 girls from high schools throughout the province at Engineering IS for Girls, an outreach event. The students heard from the Dean of Engineering, Jonathan Beddoes, who gave a talk: “Engineering: An Education for Life,” followed by a panel discussion with female engineering professionals and current engineering students.
“The engineering profession offers so many exciting opportunities to make a difference in the world,” said Kathryn Atamanchuk, former StandardAero employee and now Engineer-in-Residence in the Faculty of Engineering. “I am always thrilled to have the chance to speak to bright young women about engineering.”
A presentation by WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) gave the girls a fun hands-on design activity to do, and after a pizza lunch they rounded out their day with tours to meet female professors in the Faculty of Engineering and learn about their world-changing research.
Later in the afternoon, a public presentation by Lindsay Melvin, a double grad from engineering at the U of M now working at Manitoba Hydro, described the current and potential future of women in engineering in Manitoba.
In the evening, 125 female alumni, students and faculty members from the Faculty of Engineering participated in a special Celebration of Women in Engineering event, highlighting achievements and challenges the faculty faces with regard to attracting women to engineering. Director of WISE, Nusraat Masood, a graduate of the Faculty of Engineering, made a presentation about the work WISE does across Manitoba, including reaching nearly 30,000 school age kids annually, and shared how more professional engineers can get involved in the program.
Following dinner, the new President of APEGM (Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Manitoba) Dawn Nedohin-Macek, Engineering Class of 2002, now Assistant to the Vice-President of Transmission at Manitoba Hydro, gave the keynote presentation. Ms. Nedohin-Macek is only the third female president of APEGM. “I am honoured to be the 93rd President of the Association,” says Nedohin-Macek. “I feel fortunate to be able to work with the faculty at the University of Manitoba to celebrate women in engineering, and encourage more young women to enter this important profession.”
Click here to see the CBC news story.