Engineering (1 Viewer)

[steph@nie]

I'm interested in doing engineering at NSW, but I wonder, do many girls do engineering in general? Because it seems though my decision to put engineering in my preferences has been greeted with a stunned expression and a wide mouth.
So, if possible, I'd like to hear from a girl who does engineering, preferably Chemistry.. but any would do.

 

[shannonm]

relatively few in compeng/sci, seng not so much (but a small amount more) in electrical/telecomm, a few in renewable and quite a large amount in both industrial chem and chem eng

 

[laney]

i'm doing civil eng and i'd say there were less than 10 girls doing it. BUT civil engineers do do a lot of the same subjects as environmental engineers and there could be 15 of them (i think only about 20 people do enviro eng). So it's not as if there aren't any girls.

I'm doing a combined degree with mining, and I haven't been to any of their lectures yet but i think there are about 3 other girls doing mining (out of 20 boys).

Engineering rules btw

 

[hatty]

i dunno about uni

but in the workforce, todays Chemical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineers, have a good 17% of ladies
and 10% of civil engineers are also ladies.

 

[McLake]

I'm interested in doing engineering at NSW, but I wonder, do many girls do engineering in general? Because it seems though my decision to put engineering in my preferences has been greeted with a stunned expression and a wide mouth.
So, if possible, I'd like to hear from a girl who does engineering, preferably Chemistry.. but any would do.

Most Engineering courses do not have many women. I have a friend (who is a girl) who does Chemical Engineering (at USyd) and she is one of very few. But don't let that influence your decision.

 

[Li0n]

yes please!
just do engineering
BE UNIQUE!

 

[RCMasterAA]

Of the 200-300 people who do Mechanical Engineering (and it's offshoots) I counted about 20-30 girls. But please, one person can make a difference - do engineering!

 

[KD]

There is about 20% women in Civil Engineering. Importantly women are getting respect in the industry - recently women won the Engineering Student of the Year and the Young Professional Engineer of the Year at the 2004 Engineering Excellence Awards. Their stories are below.

Engineering Student of the Year: Rebecca Barnes

Rebecca is working towards a career in the environmental field in a developing community by studying Environmental Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

Rebecca has won the award for her Industrial Training Report, Cross-Cultural Hospital Design in Northern India, working with Environmental Management International India, EMI.

The Indian branch of the organisation is based in the Himalayan town of Mussoorie. From there, a team of six architects and engineers travelled several days to the Indian village of Simdega, Jarkhand State. Simdega is the prospective site for a hospital envisioned by the client. The team's task was to design this hospital and as an environmental engineer, Rebecca's role included site survey, water provision and storage and wastewater treatment and disposal. In 2003, she was chosen as one of four Australians to participate in the Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Program in New York.

Since completing the Higher School Certificate in the top 0.25% of the state, she has also been recognised by her Faculty and College for both her academic results and help she has provided to others. The recognition includes Scholarship offers from four Universities, two Faculty of Engineering Dean's Awards, and the appointment as a New College Senior Academic Tutor for 2003-2004.

Young Professional Engineer of the Year: Captain Michelle Wynn

Captain Michelle Wynn joined the Army in 1994, and studied at the Australian Defence Force Academy for her BE Civil (Hons) before being commissioned into the Royal Australian Corps of Engineers upon graduation from the Royal Military College Duntroon in 1997. In 2002 Michelle completed her MEngSci at UNSW.

In 1999, Michelle was posted to the 17th Construction Squadron at Holsworthy. She was promptly deployed to an aboriginal community in Queensland where she was responsible for the construction of a medical centre over a period of four months. In a further posting to East Timor, Michelle commanded 40 personnel in the construction of facilities and provision of services for the Australian Army contingent. Michelle was subsequently awarded the Australian Active Service Medal and INTERFET Campaign Medal. It was also during her tenure at 17th Construction Squadron that her Troop supported the SAS during the Sydney Olympics.

In December 2000, Michelle was posted to the Headquarters of the Army's Chief Engineer where she was responsible for the provision of support for a variety of domestic and overseas operations, exercises and projects.

In January 2003, Michelle took up a civil detachment with John Holland. During this time, she spent six months as a site engineer on the new research reactor at Lucas Heights and the remainder at Port Hedland WA on the construction of a wharf for BHP Billiton.

Throughout 2004, Michelle has been posted to 19th Chief Engineer Works and is currently Senior Project Engineer. As Senior Project Engineer, Michelle has seven projects she is responsible for at varying degrees in their completeness.

 

[Li0n]

good on them
MORE WOMEN I SAY
MORE

 

[redslert]

there's actually a scholarship for women in the computer science degree, i'm not sure about engineering, but there might be one
it's easy money, have a look around

 

[steph@nie]

there are a fair few scholarships for women in engineering, but a lot of them a means and location based, which unfortunately, I fail in both categories.

I still want to do engineering but I'd rather not be breaking the stereotype.. I'd rather fit in but meh, whatever.

 

[hipsta_jess]

Do eng.! If it's what you're interested in, go for it...besides, think of the boys!! All the boys!!

 

[Li0n]

lol
yes
THINK OF THE BOYS

 

[KD]

Another successful female Civil Engineer: Annette Ruhotas

Annette will spend twelve months based at Luganville working as a Building Assets Advisor with the Ministry of Health.

In this role, Annette will assist the Northern Health Care Group to better manage the physical assets under its control. She will help conduct more thorough building asset condition surveys across Vanuatu's four northern provinces in addition to identifying more appropriate building designs and locally sustainable building materials for use in hospitals, health facilities and staff housing.

Since graduating with a Civil Engineering degree from the University of New South Wales in 2000, Annette has worked as a building and construction management engineer in Sydney with Bovis Lend Lease Pty Limited. She also gained valuable experience with the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service when she worked there as an undergraduate with the Asset Services Unit.

Annette has a long history of community involvement, particularly through her volunteer work with St John Ambulance Australia, the Australian Red Cross, and as an outdoor education instructor and martial arts instructor.

In 2003 Annette visited East Timor and was inspired by the East Timorese and expatriate efforts to rebuild the country. These people's passion and enthusiasm strengthened Annette's desire to put her engineering skills to use in a developing country.

Annette is delighted at the opportunity of working with the Ministry of Health in Vanuatu. She is particularly looking forward to interacting with her Ni Vanuatu colleagues, experiencing Vanuatu culture and learning Bislama.

 

[KD]

and another: Jessica Yu (profile from SMEC Website)

I graduated with a BE in Civil Engineering from the University of NSW and joined SMEC as a graduate in February 2002. I have previously completed 3 summers of Industrial Training at SMEC. During my time here as a student I was involved in concept designs, tender designs and detailed designs for various projects. I realised that working with SMEC would give me plenty of opportunities to work on large scale projects both in Australia and overseas. The work was intense and challenging, and the other engineers were always happy to help me out. I decided that I want to work as a geotechnical engineer, and when SMEC offered me a position with the geotechnical group in the Sydney, I gladly accepted.

Since joining SMEC as a graduate I have been involved in numerous projects, notably tender design for Lane Cove Tunnel and detailed design for Kallang Expressway in Singapore. I have spent most of my time here on the Kallang project, and below is a brief description of my main responsibilities.

The project consisted of the design and construction of 1.5 km of cut and cover tunnel and 4 slip roads in Singapore. I was on the temporary works team which was responsible for designing the retaining wall system to allow excavation to take place. Initially, I was working on the geological long sections, then I assisted in the preparation of the geotechnical interpretative report, which involved interpreting field testing and lab testing data to come up with the soil parameters to be used in design. One of the most interesting and challenging part was when I was given the responsibility to coordinate the design of temporary works for a 120 m section of the cut and cover tunnel along with a section of the slip road which was to be constructed concurrently with the main tunnel. This involved designing the braced sheetpile wall system and producing a design report for submission to the client.

Initially I had to determine the critical soil models for design, and this was done by reviewing the geological long section and site investigation information. The tunnel cross sections corresponding to these critical soil models were obtained from the Structural engineer. Together, appropriate construction sequences were discussed, bearing in mind the constructability of the sequence, the spacing of the struts for a safe design, and ensuring the sequences were compatible with adjacent tunnel sections.

Based on the systems we used for other tunnel sections, I came up with a preliminary retaining wall system for this section, and got approval from the client to proceed with detailed design. Base heave checks were an important component in coming up with the preliminary design because the toe levels of the sheetpile wall as well as the necessity of using a jet grout layer below the base of excavation were governed mainly by base heave stability. It was our responsibility to perform these checks before detailed design could proceed.

Detailed design involved me delegating different sections for other engineers on the team to analyse, so that the design submission deadline could be met. We used a finite element analysis program to calculate the forces acting on the walls and struts and the deflection of the system. During this process there was frequent interaction with structural engineers to optimise wall and strut sizes and spacing. The final design was achieved after numerous iterations.

On completion of the design, a design report outlining design methodology and analyses results was produced and sent to the client in Singapore.

Detailed design of this project is nearing completion and it has definitely provided me with a lot of challenges since I joined the company. I was exposed to different areas of geotechnical work and have gained valuable experience as a result.

 

[steph@nie]

thanks KD... I think I'm going to rearrange my preferences woo!

 

[Assasinator_2]

Do engineering.
The sheer power you'll hold over 500+ guys by simply walking into a lecture hall rivals nothing on earth.
Bonus points if you can drink half of them under the table, too.

 

[ChironStar]

Actually, there are quite a few girls in engineering, depending on which engineering major you're in. Generally, the biochem-related engineering have more girls in it than say, petroleum or mining eng. It shouldn't matter whether there are many girls in it or not, if engineering is what you like then you should do it.

 

[esther]

it shouldnt matter whether ur a guy or gal...
im studying mechanical engineering at usyd atm and yeah there isnt many girls in my course... well i think i mite even b the onli or two but it shouldnt stop u from doin something u like~
im at the end of 2nd yr and mums still against me doin engineering... ppl ask me wot course do u do and i say engo and they give me the "wot the..." look but i enjoy doin this course although it can b challenging at times
i would STRONGLY recommend u do engo if u want to... doesnt matter wot others think~ ^^