National Women in Engineering Day.
Aim: National Women in Engineering Day (NWED) was launched in 2014 by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES), as an inaugural event to celebrate the achievements of women in engineering and encourage more girls to consider engineering as a career.
Forecast: After the success of last year’s National Women in Engineering Day (NWED) where over 250 resource packs were distributed to schools across the UK and 80 organisations, excluding schools, held events in aid of NWED, WES have received an overwhelming response for this year’s NWED. Over 700 resource packs have been distributed to schools, universities and organisations across the country. Approximately 400 schools and colleges across the country are expected to take part in NWED celebrations this year.
In relation to actual NWED events taking place, 86 NWED events have been confirmed by 73 organisations across the country. The organisations hosting the events include universities, schools, engineering societies, and multinational organisations, such as Ford Motor Company, Amec Foster Wheeler, Qinetiq and Atkins. Among the events, a Guinness World Record has also been planned to coincide with NWED with the aim to have the largest gathering of women engineers on NWED 23 June at Horse Guards Parade at 8:15am.
This year NWED has also gained interest on an international level with events happening all over the world to celebrate achievements of women engineers on a global level. The IET Kuwait are hosting a conference on NWED with talks from guest speakers, networking activities and awards.