Following on from National Women in Engineering Day, Chloe Adams-Pickford – a second year student at Oxford University studying General Engineering – talks about why she wants to be an engineer and about the support she has received so far.
H
ave you seen Apollo 13? I know it’s a Hollywood blockbuster with an A-list cast but I watched it when I was 12 after a visit to NASA in Florida and I knew then that I wanted to be an engineer.
There’s a bit in the movie where potentially deadly levels of carbon monoxide are filling the space ship. They can’t change the filters as they only take square cartridges and the ones the astronauts have are round. The engineers at NASA literally have to work out how to fit a square peg in a round hole.
So they get a box of different equipment they know is available on the spacecraft and sit around a table together to solve the problem. I remember watching that and thinking how creative, inventive and important their jobs were.
It opened up my mind and I realised that I had taken everything for granted. There is so much that is engineered in our lives and I then wanted to know how things were put together and why they worked.
In order to pursue my engineering dreams, I studied a wide range of STEM subjects including A levels in maths, further maths, physics and chemistry. After successfully completing my A Levels, I went on to take up a place at the University of Oxford where I now study Engineering Science.
Support
While still in sixth form, I began to look into the support available to me for my university studies. I came across the IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) Diamond Jubilee Scholarship scheme, which is now in its second year.
The scholarships provide each winner with at least £1,000 per academic year. All the winners also benefit from mentoring and work experience placements through the IET’s extensive networks. I decided on the IET’s scholarship based on its flexibility as I wasn’t sure which part of engineering I wanted to specialise in. The Diamond Jubilee Scholarship has a number of different routes to apply for. I decided to apply for
the IET Great Exhibition Scholarship, which I was told I’d won in 2014. I found out that 69 scholarships had been awarded to other engineering students who started either a Masters or an Undergraduate engineering degree at a UK-based university in the autumn of 2014. Nearly half of these (42%) have been awarded to female candidates up from just 19% of scholarships that were given to female applicants last year.
Scholarship
The IET Diamond Jubilee Scholarship programme is open to all UK students hoping to achieve 3 As at A Level, 3 A grade Advanced Highers, 5 A grade Highers or an International Baccalaureate Diploma at 36 points or above and who are applying to join an IET accredited engineering or technology degree course. Those who are selected receive at least £1,000 per year during their studies. There is a lot of support for those training to be engineers so I would encourage anyone who is thinking about a career in engineering to apply.
Aside from the finances, the scholarship
The work that organisations such as Stemettes and the IET are doing to encourage more girls into engineering is important. Only 6% of the workforce is currently women and that has to change. It’s important that girls are aware of the support available to them when they enter the industry, like the IET’s Diamond Jubilee Scholarship.
has opened up a number of societies that I have been able to get involved with. One that I have particularly enjoyed is Stemettes.
The work that organisations such as Stemettes and the IET are doing to encourage more girls into engineering is important. Only 6% of the workforce is currently women and that has to change. It’s important that girls are aware of the support available to them when they enter the industry, like the IET’s Diamond Jubilee Scholarship. To find out more about the IET Diamond Jubilee Scholarship, visit:
www.theiet.org/diamond
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