What's New
Women in Engineering National Committee
Fit for Work PPE – for breakfast presentation at WA CME Breakfast
The Women in Engineering National Committee (WIENC) (PPE) Fit for Work Project has been named equal second in the Chamber of Minerals & Energy of Western Australia (CMEWA) Women in Resources Awards in the Outstanding Company Initiative category for 2012. The awards were presented at the CME Women in Resources Awards breakfast in Perth on 8 March 2012.
The CMEWA Women in Resources Awards "recognise individuals and organisations working to build a world class industry which provides attractive career opportunities and enhances the recognition and participation of women in the sector." The Outstanding Company Initiative category promotes initiatives that enhance the attraction and retention of women in the resources sector such as innovative shift rosters, childcare arrangements, work/life balance initiatives and maternity leave and return to work strategies to name just a few.
The WIENC PPE Fit for work project was developed from the frustration by the current ill-fitting PPE available for women. The WIENC in conjunction with Challenger Institute of Technology designers Michelle Olufson and Kalina Cannon, created four prototype PPE outfits compliant to Australian Standards. Olufson said: " Many girls had a problem with shirts gaping out from their bust, so we developed a shirt with tab fronts (like a polo shirt) so they really only have two buttons. We have also put the pockets on the sleeves to take emphasis off the bust."
The innovative outfits were launched at the International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists (ICWES15) in Adelaide in July 2011. The outfits are currently being developed as a pilot range in partnership with John Holland, which will be rolled out across several of their sites Australia wide in early 2012.
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Empowerment Principles
The WIE National committee supports the United Nation's Women's Empowerment Principles. Read our WIENC Gender Equality Position Statement and go to United National Women Empowerment Principles to know more.
The 2011 WIE National Committee
Standing from left to right: Katrina Chisholm,Nerida Beard, Gemma Hamilton, Jamie Mullins, Ruth Fernando, Marlene Kanga, Michelle Thompson, Erin Jackson, Kit Poon and Clare Banks
Sitting from left to right: Meg Baldo, Sherry Moghadassi, Michelle Shi-Verdaasdonk, Gaye Francis, Soussan Rahimi
We're now on Facebook! Be updated with upcoming events of WIE in your division, meet other women engineers and network with your peers by clicking the relevant links below:
Did you know that women members in EA were the fastest growing segment of membership in 2009-2010? View the latest women membership trend in the Statistics section of our Resources page.
Calling on female engineers for inspiration
The Women in Engineering (WIE) committee are calling on female engineers to be profiled in a special section of Engineers Australia's 'Make it So' website dedicated to female engineers. The website goal is to continuously showcase female engineers and their great engineering achievements to help inspire others.
If you are interested in being involved, please send through a paragraph (maximum of 500 words) describing why you chose to study engineering, the most interesting project you have worked on and 1-2 photos of yourself or the project to Michelle Thompson at wie@engineersaustralia.org.au
Keep up to date with events in your division and participate!
