When you imagine an engineer, the word 'lifesaver' probably isn't the first thing that comes to mind. But many engineers across the world are working on solutions to do just that - save lives, or at least improve quality of life. That's what spurred me to pursue a career in engineering - I wanted to solve problems and make a difference.
From designing lifesaving medical equipment to building safe bridges, the opportunities to help people are surprisingly vast. I've had the privilege of collaborating with my colleagues from health and science to develop sensor technology to improve motor learning for stroke rehabilitation patients, and we're developing new technologies to improve the brain's recovery following injury or disease.
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Today is International Women in Engineering Day, and an opportune time to acknowledge all of the female lifesavers in our field and inspire more females to imagine a career in engineering.
Throughout my career I've mentored many bright and determined female engineering students with their final year projects. What's even more rewarding is understanding what motivates their work. Electrical engineering student Emily Baldwin wanted to improve the quality of life and social connectedness for people with a hearing impairment. She developed a system to help teach sign language using sensor gloves to prompt automatic feedback from a computer. Emily is applying the skills she learnt through that project to her career as an electronics engineer with BAE Systems, incorporating virtual reality into Defence solutions. It's the shared mentality of using our skills to form solutions to help people that makes me proud to be an engineer. It's reverberated through my colleagues at the university too, where I work with many inspiring women who are contributing to life-changing research every day.
Professor Anna Giacomini is working to keep the community safe by researching barriers to prevent rock falls and hazards; Dr Jessica Allen is protecting future generations by investigating renewable energy options; Associate Professor Yuen Yong is applying nanosystems research to improve microscope functionality; Associate Professor Galina Mirzaeva is minimising risk by investigating electrical safety; Associate Professor Patricia Saco is helping to save our water, land and soil resources; the list goes on.
I'm extremely grateful that pursuing a career in Engineering was an option for me. To girls or women who are made to feel otherwise, please don't listen to anyone who says you can't do it, because you certainly can. If you are interested, I encourage you to chat to some of our female Engineering students to hear about their experiences first-hand: www.newcastle.edu.au/study/ask-a-student.
