INWED 2022 – Engineers around the world | Student Women's Engineering Society (WESBath)

On Thursday, 22nd June 2022, WESBath held our INWED 2022 celebration, celebrating and gaining insights from engineers around the world.

Our contributors were:

Nafn Amdar: Water resources engineering, Al-Baath University – Syria. MSc in water management, Hashemite University. Studying PhD in Water Education, IHE Delft Institute
Dr Tasneem Isam Abdelmagid: UG, MSc (Renewable energy technologies)and PhD in Mechanical Engineering, at University of Khartoum. Currently, part-time Assistant Professor at the Sudan International University, and CEO of InVision Company.
Dr Eriyeti Murena: Doctor of Engineering(Deng) in Industrial Engineering(IE),Tshwane University of Technology. Lecturer in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering(IME) at the National University of Science and Technology(NUST) in Zimbabwe.
Dr Despina Moschou: MEng NTUAthens, PhD University of Athens. Senior Lecturer and Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Fellow, in the Centre for Biosensors, Bioelectronics and Biodevices (C3Bio), Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering at the University of Bath.
Prof Jun Zang : Professor of Coastal and Ocean Engineering, and Deputy Director of the Centre for Infrastructure, Geotechnical and Water Engineering Research (IGWE) in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering. and a member of the Senate of the University.
Dr Parimala Shivaprasad: PhD University of Bath. Assistant professor at the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham.

Our guests were asked a range of questions including:

Our discussions were exciting, wide and varied and too many to include in this blog but we have included some examples below:

“ I knew nothing about engineering in school – I saw a film about a very successful female engineer in shift buildings, didn't know what it was and thought it was very cool! "When you study more you find how important it is"
“In entrepreneurship it's more competitive and aggressive than academia, for women this is counterintuitive, but unfortunately when you're in this environment, this is the culture around you, and it can only change if the number of women changed”
"When I was promoted a professor I was told that me and another colleague were the first female professors in the history of the department!”
"Even now, I am the only female in my department!"
“In India - as a female engineer I had less freedom, had to be cautious about how to talk, how to conduct myself, how long to stay at night, etc.”
“In the middle east, the real issue that females are encouraged to study engineering, but not encouraged to establish a career in the field.”
“In Zimbabwe the attitude towards women is generally great; I've worked with male counterparts and mostly was the only female, but I was always encouraged and supported.”
“In Greece the attitude towards women who care about their appearance is that they are automatically thought about as worse engineers than a woman who doesn't care about her looks”
“I was the only female and experienced isolation from decision making processes and leadership”

Advice from our guests included:

“Try, try harder and don't give up - you only lose when you give up"
“Have a mentor, really helps with brain storming, hesitation, building relationships, imposter syndrome”
“Go with your gut if something feels wrong, it probably is, don't ignore it, either try to fix it or find a better environment"
“Your value does not come from others, value your own self - be a good engineer who is comfortable on their skins”
“Celebrate what we have achieved; have a network, help other females, work harder for equal opportunities
“I learnt that I can't be perfect "if we are good enough, that's good enough" - be proud - do what you can manage - remember to have a healthy life”

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