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Women Engineering Queensland workshop 2008

Participants in the Women Engineering Queensland workshop 2008

From 18 to 19 July 2008 over 140 female engineering students from throughout Queensland participated in the Women Engineering Queensland (WEQ) workshop at the Mercure Hotel Brisbane.

WEQ is an initiative of the Queensland Government’s Smart Women - Smart State Taskforce.

The 2008 workshop aimed to:

support the retention of women who attended the workshop within engineering courses
assist female engineering students to build networks with each other, and industry representatives
give students a sense of what an engineer does
give female students an opportunity to share experiences
profile successful women engineers
develop interpersonal/communication skills relevant for future employment.

The workshop program included a range of activities and speakers, including:

inspiring keynote presentations from two young female engineers – Melanie Gordon, BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) and Kate D’Arcy, Aker Solutions
panel sessions, including opportunities for questions and answers, featuring recent graduates and senior women in engineering
a networking skills development session
‘hands on’ skills sessions
a networking event with industry representatives and sponsors, which included the presentation of the QRC/Thiess prize for a female second year engineering student.

A Videostream of the Women Engineering Queensland 2008 workshop (non Queensland Government website) is available.

Feedback from participants indicates that the workshop was, overall, a very positive experience for female students:

98% of participants agreed that the workshop was useful
96% of participants stated that meeting other women studying engineering at the workshop was valuable
93% affirmed that the workshop assisted in making them feel more confident in their decision to study engineering.

I think this was a superbly organised event. It has been wonderfully enlightening and motivating for me as a young female engineering student. I think the networking skills I learnt will be very valuable in many aspects of my life and career. The chosen speakers were excellent. Thank you.

After attending I felt so much better about a career in engineering and I’m definitely inspired to follow a career path similar to those of speakers here. Everyone was really friendly and welcoming and it was an awesome experience to get to know other female engineers. LOVED IT.

[b]y listening to engineers in industry I have felt inspired and this has affirmed my choice of studying engineering.

The networking event was the most useful experience at the workshop to establish friendships with other students and contacts with people in industry.

If you did not get to attend the workshop, or would like to relive the experience, you can watch the panels online at http://weqld08.mediavisionz.com.au.