Getting young women into engineering

Saturday 19 September 2020

The College of FE has been encouraging young women at local schools to have a go at engineering, in an attempt to get more females working in the male-dominated industry.

The college usually holds an event in June to coincide with International Women in Engineering Day, with lots of hands-on activities for students to try.

However, due to corona virus concerns, this year's event had to be held virtually instead.

The college set online competitions that the girls could either complete at school or at home, challenging them to use their engineering skills.

One of the competitions was called 'Stack 'Em Up' in which students had to create a stand-alone structure made of recyclable and reusable materials, and then balance an egg on the top. They then took photos of their entries and submitted them for judging by representatives from the College of FE, Sure and CIGPE.

Pictured: The College of FE usually holds a Women in Engineering event for girls at local schools.

"The inspiration for the challenge arose from the rock piles around the coast," explained College of FE Faculty Director for Construction and Engineering, Chris Torode.

"Supporting an egg and using a structure calls upon those engineering talents; trouble shooting and problem solving - it's that evolution trying to find a solution to a problem."

Eve Walley and Rebecca Philp, from The Ladies' College, were crowned the winning pair.

"Our first thought were to create something secure," explained Miss Walley. "Rebecca did some weaving with these old bits of fabric across a triangle shaped structure to hold the egg in a nest."

Genevieve Evans and Sophie Elliott, also from The Ladies' College, were runners up with their stick structure.

Pictured: Students Genevieve Evans and Sophie Elliott flanked by Charlotte Dunsterville and Chris Torode.

"Engineering is quite a male-dominated field so I think it's really good to encourage women to partake in this area of work," said Miss Evans.

The challenge was sponsored by Sure, which funded prizes for the top two teams.

"We're really pleased to sponsor this because we're all about trying to get more women into science subjects and then ultimately into technology," commented Chief Consumer Officer at Sure, Charlotte Dunsterville. "We employ about 180 people in Guernsey and 25% of them are women. We are so keen to have more women in more technical roles.

"We were really impressed with the level of the entries - the students have obviously worked really hard and were also very creative in their use of sustainable materials."

Pictured: Imogen Berryman of Guernsey Electricity, Mya Colley and Mark Pratt from the College of FE.

The second competition for the online event was run by Environmental Manager at Guernsey Electricity, Alex Herschel, who put together a presentation on biodiversity.

After watching the presentation, the students were asked to answer questions and all of those with the right answers were entered into a draw to win a prize.

Mya Colley from La Mare de Carteret was the lucky winner and was presented with a £50 voucher for Iris & Dora.

Pictured top: Eve Walley and Rebecca Philp with Charlotte Dunsterville and Chris Torode.