Saving the bath water WANTED: Women-led Engineer Spring 20… · sports commentator, Colin Jackson. Colin Jackson said: “Training in sport and business are very similar. In both

The Woman Engineer – Spring 200712

MEL BLYTHE , aninventor and teachingassistant, has won firstprize in the PowergenEnergyLab competition– a nationwide searchto find the best energyefficient product ideas.

Mel was the onlyfemale entrant amongstover a hundred com-petitors. She will nowhave the opportunity towork with LIFE-IC, astate of the art support service forthe development of clean energytechnologies, which will providesupport and advice to help get heridea into production

The winning entry – an ingen-ious water and energy-saving

device for baths – fought off stiffcompetition at the national finalheld at the Tate Modern gallery inLondon.

Judging panel chairman, TrevorBaylis said: “The standard ofentries we reviewed at the final

was very high and wehad a tough job decidingwhich invention shouldscoop the top prize. ButMel’s invention reallystood out for us and welook forward to seeing itbeing developed overthe next few months.”

“I can’t believe myinvention has won thecompetition,” said Mel.“As a mum myself, thiswas just something I

came up with to make my life eas-ier. I’ve always believed it was agreat idea, so it’s brilliant that thePowergen judges have recognisedits potential too.“

For further information seewww.powergenenergylab.co.uk.

Saving the bath water

POTENTIAL BIOFUELS fortransport are being investi-

gated in a Royal Society survey.This will look at how scientific

developments could tackle prob-lems associated with biofuels cur-rently on the market, such asbiodiesel, derived from soya orrapeseed, and bioethanol, madefrom wheat or sugar beet.

Professor John Pickett, chair ofthe Royal Society biofuels workinggroup, said: “There is a hugeamount of excitement around thesefuels. The government has made acommitment that 5 per cent of allfuels used for road vehicles shouldcome from biofuels by 2010.

“Our study will investigate whatcould realistically be achieved interms of cost, yield and environ-mental impacts, particularly in rela-tion to minimising greenhouse gasemissions.”

The working group is expectedto report on its findings in autumnthis year..

Anyone interested in contributingevidence should contact the RoyalSociety or see the websitewww.royalsoc.ac.uk/policy.

ELECTROLUX HAS won theSustainable Energy Award in

the Corporate CommitmentCategory from the EuropeanCommission in recognition of itsefforts to reduce energy consump-tion of products, factories and serv-ices. The company has developed

products, such as the Sensidry heatpump tumble dryer (shown below)that boasts record-low energy con-

sumption, and is engaged in otherprogrammes contributing to thesustainable use of energy.

Electrolux’s chief executive officerHans Stråberg says that energy effi -ciency has improved by about 40%in the last decade for the com-pany’s major appliances.

“We estimate that there areabout 200 million appliances thatare more than 10 years old current-ly in use in European households.By replacing these, we could cutcarbon dioxide emissions by some22 million tonnes per year, corre-sponding to 6% of the EU’s Kyototarget,” said Mr Stråberg.

THE WALES INSTITUTE ofSustainable Energy, under

construction at the Centre forAlternative Technology (CAT) inMachynlleth, will showcase a rangeof new renewable technologiesincluding a new solar roof.

The new 6kW photovoltaic (PV)roof will generate electricity for thenew Institute, which is CAT’sbiggest ever project – a mini-univer -sity teaching all kinds of environ-mental courses, a conference venueand an educational building for

GreenNews

WANTED: Women-ledrecycling businesses

THE LONDON DEVELOPMENTAGENCY (LDA) is investing £3million into the recycling sectorin London, through its enhancebusiness support programme. Itis particularly aiming to assistwomen-led businesses and otherunder-represented groups inLondon.

Helen Keenan, director ofProduct Development, LondonDevelopment Agency, said:.“Inits first 18 months, enhancehelped grow over 170 ‘green’enterprises. We’re hoping theservice will create another 20new businesses and 200 jobs inLondon over the next 18months.

Businesses requiring assistancecan apply online atwww.enhancelondon.co.uk.

school groups.Other renewable energy gener-

ating devices on the WISE buildingwill include 70m2 of evacuatedtubes for solar water heating, anda massive woodchip-fired com-bined heat and power (CHP) plant.This will provide 250kW of heatfor the whole site, and 100kW ofelectricity. CAT will sell the excessback to the Grid.

THE UK’S FIRST ecological e-commerce website,

www.online-ecosurvey.co.uk,has been launched by ADAS,providers of environmental andrural solutions and policy advice.

It will enable a range of environ-mental services to be boughtonline, and is targeted at the landand property development indus-try, as well as engineers, architects,planners and surveyors.

A particular concern at this timeof year is problems for land devel-opment and engineering projectsposed by species such as bats,lizards and newts.

If long-eared batsare discovered, plan-ning modificationscould be required, sig-nificantly delaying aproject, and greatcrested newts on abuilding site could costa developer in theregion of £80,000 torelocate.

Artist’s impression of the Wales

Institute of Sustainable Energy

(courtesy of CAT)

Continues on page 3

Young Woman Engineer ofthe Year winners...see pp 7-8

THE

www.wes.org.uk

Karen Burt Award winner p6 Young Woman Engineer of the Year p7 Pensions for women p4

Volume 17, Number 15 – Spring 2007WomanEngineer

President’ smessage

H appyNew

Year.This

year hasstartedwith a lotof activi-

ty. Some WES members and Iattended The Young WomanEngineer of the Year Awardceremony, which this year wasa much bigger affair incorpo-rating the presentation of theDyson Young WomanApprentice of the Year Awardand the Ford WISE Prize.

For those of you that aren’taware, the WES has a longhistory with the CarolineHaslett Memorial Trust. TheTrust implemented the YoungWoman Engineer of the YearAward 29 years ago in memo-ry of Dame Caroline Haslett.The trust was formed in 1945to commemorate the 21stanniversary of the ElectricalAssociation for Women. Itbecame a memorial to DameCaroline Haslett following herdeath in 1957.

Dame Caroline was born in1895. In 1919 she becamethe first secretary of theWomen’s Engineering Society(she later became President in1940).

Out of WES grew theElectrical Association forWomen and Caroline Haslettwas appointed its Directorand Secretary. Through theAssociation she encouragedthe use of power in thehome, believing that electricitywas the real emancipator ofwomen.

WES memberKer ry Copewas one of

four training success sto-ries from the manufactur-ing sector that were cele-brated at the NationalTraining Awards’ gala cer-emony held in London inDecember.

Kerry initially plannedto train as a solicitor, butinstead she undertook anapprenticeship withLlandaff Engineering in1998. This has led to animpressive record ofachievements – the latestof which is a covetedNational Training Award.

During her apprenticeship Kerrygained her ONC, a City & Guilds inCAD and CNC Machining. She wenton to achieve an HND, an NVQ Level4 in management, City & Guilds inQuality Assurance and is workingtowards the CIPS ProfessionalDiploma.

In the middle of her apprentice-ship, she was asked to take on therole formerly held by the company’spurchasing manager, for which shereceived only a two-week introduc-tion to the job.

In 2000, Kerry was named BarryCollege’s Best ONC ManufacturingStudent, and the next year she wasVGTA Mechanical Trainee of the Year.She won the University of GlamorganAward for Best HND ManufacturingStudent, and in 2004 was namedELWa Learner of the Year. She was aWestern Mail Woman of the Yearfinalist in 2005 and a WISE (Womenin Science, Engineering andConstruction) Excellence Award final-ist.

The NTA Judges commented thatKerry was an excellent role modeland champion for work-based learn-ing. They were particularly impressedby her determination and the veryappropriate qualifications that sheachieved at an early age.

“Basically, I won the awardbecause of my dedication towardslearning and promoting engineer-

ing,” said Kerry. “I am a huge advo-cate of apprenticeships and engineer-ing. I volunteer as an engineeringambassador for SETPoint Wales, actas the Cluster contact for WES Walesproducing the newsletter, help withthe Careers Wales K’nex challenge,attend schools promoting engineeringand management.

“I try to promote engineering ingeneral and not just amongstwomen. All of the National Trainingstories are very impressive and showthat dedication and enthusiasm are awinning combination.

“I believe that Britain does notactively promote and encourage engi-neering, and it falls to people like me

to raise its profile. I have recent-ly found out the Careers Wales,Cardiff & the Vale staff aregoing to be awarding me withan equal opportunities awardfor the voluntary work that Iundertook with them during2006.

“Winning the award really isa tribute to all of the peoplethat helped to support methroughout my apprenticeshipand beyond.”

Unfortunately, Kerry’semployer went in the adminis -tration during November lastyear.

“Winning the award gave methe confidence to see redun-dancy as an opportunity,” saidKerry.

“I am now employed as ageneral manager for a vehicle salvageand reclamation yard – and that isprobably another story in the mak-ing.”

Kerry received her award fromsports commentator, Colin Jackson.

Colin Jackson said: “Training insport and business are very similar. Inboth you can only achieve success ifyou develop your skills and are pre-pared to overcome hurdles to reachyour goals!”

UK Skills runs the awards on behalfof the Department for Education andSkills. Entries are now open for the2007 National Training Awards. Formore information visit www.national-trainingawards.com.

An ambassador for apprenticeships

The National Manufacturing SkillsAcademy (NMSA) was launched

at the end of January. It is one ofthe first National Skills Academiesto be approved by the Departmentfor Education and Skills (DfES) andwill deliver training and education,including the development of con-tent and validation of trainers andassessors, for large and small manu-facturing sector employers.

SEMTA, the Sector Skills Councilfor Science, Engineering andManufacturing Technologies, isleading the NMSA.

The NMSA will work with organi -sations in aerospace, electrical engi-

neering, electronics, mechanicalengineering and metal trades,motor vehicles (automotive), ship-building, bio technology, nanotech-nology, mathematics, and forensicscience. Full details are available onwww.manufacturing.nsacademy.co.uk.

The NMSA is one of fourNational Skills Academiesannounced by the government lastOctober. The others are for con-struction, financial services, foodand drink. All.are expected to sub-mit business plans by late springwith a view to opening to learnersfrom autumn 2007.

Academy will raise skills levels in manufacturing

The Woman Engineer – Spring 20072

Inside this issue...

2 Verena Holmes lecturer 3 Professional institutions and

women members3 Lady Finniston Award

5 Dynamic plastics: DaphneJackson lecture

9 Why don’t engineering stu-dents become engineers?

10 News10 New members11 Your letters11 Members’ news12 Green news

The Women’ sEngineering Societyis a charity registered with theCharity Commission No. 1008913and a company limited by guar -antee registered in England No.162096.

All correspondence regardingmembership and the work ofthe Women’s EngineeringSociety (WES) should beaddressed to:

The SecretaryWomen’s Engineering Societyc/o IETMichael Faraday House Six Hills WaySTEVENAGE SG1 2AYTel: 01438 765506 e-mail: [email protected]

The Woman Engineer Editor :Pat Battamse-mail: [email protected]

Editorial Boar d:Ruth Carter, Jacky Crook, PetraGodwin, Dianne Patterson,Karen Quigley, Connie Shirley,Natalie Wiseman

The Woman Engineer is pub-lished by the Women’sEngineering Society. It is distrib-uted free of charge to membersof the Society and to selectedprofessional women engineers,scientists and women under-graduates at universities and col-leges.

Subscriptions : the journal isavailable to non WES membersin the UK at a subscription priceof £20.00pa (inc postage). Pleasesend applications for subscrip-tions to WES. Cheques should bemade payable to: Women’sEngineering Society.

Overseas subscriptions : priceby surface mail is £25.00pa.Sterling cheques or bank draftsshould be made payable to:Women’s Engineering Society.All letters and articles for inclu -sion in The Woman Engineershould be sent to the Editor atthe same address.

The views expressed in thisjournal are not necessarilythe views of the Society.

(c) Copyright: The WomanEngineer 2007Deadline for next issue: 15 April 2007

Those who braved the worstsnow of the winter to attendthe Daphne Jackson lecture

found that they were in for a treat. Itwas a truly inspiring lecture giving anexciting vision of the next develop-ments in communications technology.It also demonstrated that women canbe in the forefront of ground-break-ing technology. See page 5 for a briefreport on an inspirational evening.

There was another highlight thatevening, the presentation of theKaren Burt Award (see page 6). Thisyear’s winner was nominated by theInstitution of Highways andTransportation – the first time that awinner has not come from one of themajor engineering institutions.

The first two months of the yearwere notable for engineering awards.The Young Woman Engineer of the

Year award winners are featured onpages 7-8. There appears to be noshortage of talented young womenengineers applying for these.

However, a couple of recentreports indicate that despite effortsto increase the number of womenstudying engineering at university,quite a few engineering graduateschose not to work as engineers.Indications are that the workplaceculture that they encounter duringindustrial placements can often bedetrimental (see page 9 for moredetails). The Woman Engineer wouldbe interested to hear about mem-bers’ experiences on industrial place-ments – and your coping mech-anisms.

There has been quite a lot ofmedia coverage on different pensionsschemes – and changes in retirement

age – over the last couple of years.Retirement may seem quite a longway off for many of you, but thesooner you start saving, the moregenerous your pension will be.

On page 4, Anna Sofat explainsthe sort of pensions that are availableand the issues that you should beconsidering when planning for retire-ment.

Are you a member of an engineer-ing institution? The chart oppositeshows the percentage of women inyour institution. Would you like tohelp boost the number of womenmembers? If so WES would like tohear from you.

The trustees of the VerenaHolmes Lecture Fund are con-ducting a nationwide search for

the Verena Holmes Lecturer2007/2008.

This special person will act as a rolemodel for teenage girls. The trusteesare looking for an engineer in theearly stages of their professionalcareer who is able to enthuse andencourage Year 10 (aged 14-15) girlsto appreciate the contribution thatengineering makes to our world –and to consider the benefits of pursu-ing a career in this field.

The Verena Holmes Lectures havebeen given in a number of differentformats since they started in 1969.The Lecture has been given by promi-nent female engineers to sixth form-ers. It has also been given in the formof interactive presentations by com-pany teams from BT, GKN, Laings andFord to secondary and primary pupils.Now the trustees are launching anew format to continue to celebratethe memory of one of our foremostwoman engineers.

The 2007 Verena Holmes Lecturerwill make a number of presentationsaround the country to significant

groups of Year 10 girls, as part ofevents stimulating interest in engi -neering, science and technology.

The holder of this prestigious annu-al title will receive a modest honorari-um, public recognition at the WESconference – and of course thiswould be a great boost to your CV.

If you would like to be this year’sVerena Holmes Lecturer, send yourCV with a covering letter explainingwhy you should be chosen and abrief statement of recommendationfrom your employer (including a com-mitment to cover your travel expensesand time away from work). Pleasesend this to [email protected] by 31March.

Does engineering excite you?

Brunel competitionprizewinnersRosemary MortimerHelen KirbyKaren AshworthLucy RogersWendy BrownAnne StewartNatasha WatsonKerrine BryanHelen FennellJulie Winnard

Winners were drawn from 34 cor-rect answers received. Answers:1. Uxbridge, west of London2. 2nd3. Clifton Suspension Bridge*

*SS Great Eastern was launched dur -ing his lifetime but not finished untilafter his death

Eight out of ten people in thiscountry have never had a hear-

ing test, compared to one in tenwho have never had a sight test. Apoll of 4000 people discovered thatthree-quarters of those over theage of 50 have never had a test,despite the fact that 40% of peo-ple in this age group will havesome degree of hearing loss.

An estimated one in seven peo-ple in the UK has hearing loss.During January, Hearing ClearerAwareness Month, a campaign waslaunched to encourage everyone toget regular hearing tests.

Pointers to identify hearing loss:

☛ Do people always seem to bemumbling when they talk to you?☛ Do you have trouble hearing

the doorbell or telephone?☛ Do you find it easier to follow a

conversation if you are lookingdirectly at the person speaking toyou?☛ Do you find it hard to follow aconversation in a group?☛ Are you constantly asking peo -

ple to repeat themselves?☛ Do others complain that you

have the volume turned up toohigh on the TV?

If you answered yes to any of theabove questions, then it is worthbooking a hearing test.

For more details on hearing loss,visit www.hearingclearer.co.uk.

Can you hear me?

The Woman Engineer – Spring 2007 11

YOUR

Diary

14 March Climate for

Change: Women in SET –

Having an Enviro n m e n t a l

Impact, UKRC Third Annual

C o n f e rence, British Museum,

L o n d o n

22-23 Mar c h G l o b a l

Marathon for Women in

E n g i n e e r i n g ,

21 April WES Council

meeting, at Ford Dunton

Technical Centre, Essex. All

members are welcome to

a t t e n d .

Please send all diary

items to [email protected] . u k

or post to the addre s s

above. Deadline for next

issue 15 April 2007.

Dear Editor

How do members feel about the ideathat at each WES Conference a groupphoto would be taken of those whohave attended (appearance would bevoluntary).

If names were taken, it would be auseful historic record.

Betty McCarthy , Hon Treasurer

Your letters should be

sent to: WES Editor, c/o

IET, Michael Faraday

House, Six Hills Way,

STEVENAGE SG1 2AY

or e-mail to

[email protected]

Congratulations

Council member Heather Parkes

has become a Chartered Engineer

with the Institution of Chemical

Engineers.

Jacqui Brookes , the chief executive

officer (CEO) of the Federation of

Communication Services (FCS), has

been awarded an OBE in the

Queen’s New Year Honours. The

award recognises her contribution to

the industry by proactively represent-

ing small and medium enterprises

with the government and the tele-

coms regulator OFCOM.

Jacqui has been deeply committed

to the radio, fixed and mobile

telecommunications industry for

more than 15 years. She originally

joined FCS in 1990 to manage trade

association projects.

Since becoming CEO of FCS in

2002, Jacqui has seen membership

increase more than threefold, and

FCS now has a stronger input and

influence in government and regula-

tory decisions.

Jacqui graduated in industrial

chemistry at the City University and

has previously

worked in the IT

industry, at the

DTI and for the

Patent Office.

She has been

a WES Council

member and a

member of the

board of ICWES-

UK (International

Conference of

Women

Engineers and

Scientists).

She also works

with the lay

magistracy in

South-East London to appoint

new magistrates.

Ted Beddoes, FCS chairman

said, “Jacqui’s award is richly

deserved and makes a fantas -

tic end to the 25th anniver-

sary year of the Federation. It

is great news that the FCS

and its members, through her

diligent work, is being recog-

nised in this way – the UK

continues to present a dynam-

ic competitive environment

with great opportunities for

the new and developing busi -

nesses the FCS represents.”

Members’ news

WES treasurer Betty McCarthy hasbeen awarded a fellowship of theBritish Computer Society.

Betty attributes this to: “hardwork; having a ‘bee in my bonnet’about computing being a branchof engineering; believing comput-ing should be done ‘properly’ andprofessionally; an accident.”

The ‘accident’ was that her inter-est in computers was stimulatedwhilst working as an HM Customs& Excise VAT Visiting Officer in the1970s. “I tended to end up withthe computer traders as I foundtheir records very interesting,” saidBetty.

Via information provided byWES, Betty took a computer engi-neering degree as a mature studentat City University. Betty recalls:“Maria Watkins had a tea party forthe women engineers at CityUniversity and I signed up for WESand the Institution of ElectricalEngineers (IEE) as a student mem-ber (accidentally right box ticked).”

She then returned to the HMCustoms & Excise and eventuallyjoined the Computer Department(as it was then known) atSouthend.

“I became an Associate Memberof the BCS (accidentally right boxticked) and joined the local South

Essex branch of the BCS to keepup with what was going on in theoutside computing industry and theLondon branch of WES to attendcross engineering discipline meet-ings. My main holidays were eitherpottery courses or WES confer -ence.”

Betty, of course, did not just joinin branch activities but becamevery active in both BCS and WES.

“I was very flattered when thelocal Essex BCS branch suggestedthey would sponsor me to be aFellow (BCS) and I got it! They hadalready recommended me for aBranch Long Service Award forwork as branch committee mem-ber.”

Use your WESmembership

As a WES member, are youaware that you can useMWES after your name?

Doing so will indicateyour support for WES andhelp to raise awareness ofthe Society .

Betty becomes aFellow

Betty at the last ICWES confer -ence in Seoul

THE MIDLANDS ENGINEERINGIndustries Redeployment

Group (MEIRG) dispatched its mobileresource ERIC (Engineering ResourceInnovation Centre) to Midlandsevents during Enterprise Week (13-19November) to teach schoolchildrenabout engineering and encouragemore school-leavers into the industry.

ERIC is fully equipped with the lat-est technology, including computers,interactive projects and informationon engineering designed to allowMEIRG, a not-for-profit public-privatepartnership, to deliver its services on-site.

The first event took place atBulwell Precision Engineers inNottinghamshire. Forty-five school-children aged 15-16 and their teach-ers were given a talk on innovation inengineering, and took part in a man-ufacturing game on ERIC to set up aproduction line to assemble the com-ponents of a household plug.

ERIC’s next stop was an eventorganised by Rolls Royce in Derbywhere a series of master classes oncareers in engineering were held on-board for over 100 pupils from 11local schools, teaching them how towrite effective CVs and develop theirinterview skills for when they join thejob market.

Finally, specialist engineering col-lege Eckington School, in Sheffield,played host to a speed networkingevent. This gave young people think-ing of entering engineering theopportunity to have a one-on-onewith industry experts and discuss thebest way forward for them. In atten-dance, and giving advice, were NorthEast Derbyshire MP, Natascha Engel(on right in photo above) and Ruth

Amos, a 16 year-old pupil ofEckington School who recentlyreceived the title of Young Engineerfor Britain.

Jan Staley, project manager atMEIRG said; “Part of our remit is toencourage more school-leavers intoengineering and with ERIC we can goon-site to make information on engi-neering accessible, relevant and inter-esting.

“However, ERIC isn’t just forschoolchildren. It has been designedfor a multitude of roles includingdelivering training to engineeringcompanies on site; as a support forcompanies making redundancies andto raise awareness of engineering tothose that may feel excluded fromentering the sector.”

For more information about ERICsee www.meirg.org.uk.

DORRIE GILES ,CEng, FIET, CPhys,

MInstP, has become a trusteeof Young Engineers. Sheretired as director of qualifi-cations at the Institution ofEngineering and Technologyin April 2006.

Dorrie is a former head oftechnology at the Hertford-shire and Essex High Schooland senior scientist withPhilips Research Laborat-ories.

She is a member of theDepartment of Trade and

Industry’s independent implementa-tion group overseeing the govern-

ment strategy forwomen in sci-

ence, engineer-ing and tech-nology and isa past chairof the DTI’sElectronics inSchools

SteeringGroup.She wasafoundermember

of the Institute of Physics’ ‘Women inPhysics’ committee and was the IETadvisor to WES until her retirement.

IN ITS REPORT, ‘Working out-side the box’, the Equal

Opportunities Commission revealsthat 6.5 million people in Britaincould be using their skills more fully ifmore flexible working was available.It warns that rigid working practicesare driving highly qualified workersinto jobs below their skill level inorder to achieve a work-life balance.

The report goes on to say:“Outdated workplace cultures arefurther damaging the economy byincreasing pressure on an over-stretched transport system.”

The EOC findings are endorsed byWork Wise UK whose concordat onflexible working has been signed by anumber of major organisationsincluding the TUC, CBI, Transport forLondon, RAC Foundation, BT, and theBritish Chambers of Commerce.

BT has been using smarter work-ing practices for over 10 years, withproductivity increases of 20 per centwhere they are introduced.

For further information seewww.workwiseuk.org.

AIRBUS IS CHALLENGING stu-dents in UK schools to build a

model aircraft capable of transportinga hen’s egg as far as possible on aplaying field or other grass expanse,and landing it intact. The challenge,called ‘Project Eggs Factor’, is part ofAirbus’ involvement with YoungEngineers clubs.

Aircraft can be aeroplanes, gliders,rockets or hot air balloons. The eggmust be clearly visible during itsflight, not wrapped up in a protectivematerial. Radio controlled and igni-table fuel powered aircraft are notallowed.

Competitors must get flight dis-tances and safe landings verified byan independent adjudicator, such asa teacher, and record their flights ona camcorder or camera phone. Videoclips of the best flights will be shownon the Young Engineers websitewww.youngeng.org. Successfulflights will earn flight certificates.

The national winner will receive theunique Airbus Trophy. The challengebegan on 1 January 2007 and willfinish at the end of July 2007.

The Woman Engineer – Spring 200710

New Members

Busola Akisanya , Stoke-on-

Tre n t

Belinda Fitzgerald , Newton

M e a rn s

Helen Gough , Cheltenham

Sophia Holtsnider , Guildford

Kanchana Jeganathan ,

Southend on Sea

C l a i r e Lohan , Leamington Spa

Louise McDevitt , Belfast

Adele Mariette , Bristol

B e r ta Carola Perez Molina ,

L o n d o n

Sally Shaw , Rutherg l e n

N i s h a n t h y

T h e v a p i r a b a k a r a n , Southsea

Lesley W i n s b o r ro w , Bristol

Student Members

Simran Bains , Hounslow

Lucy Y o u n g , Ye o v i l

Keep us informed of your

latest news by writing to:

The Woman Engineer,

c/o IET, Michael Faraday

House, Six Hills Way,

STEVENAGE SG1 2AY

or via e-mail to

[email protected]

Pupils from Eckington School

await their turn inside ERIC

The Woman Engineer – Spring 2007 3

President’s messageContinued from page 1

So to be apart of theYoungWomanEngineer ofthe YearAward today

is a continuing tribute toone of our founding mem-bers. You can see moreabout the finalists onpages 7-8.

Lesley Davis and I (photoopposite – enjoying our-selves) participated in theNational Final of the FirstLego League. We werepart of the judging teamsand wow, it was a won-derful experience.

First Lego League is aninternational programmefor children aged between9 and 16 years that com-bines a hands-on, inter-active robotics programwith a sports-like atmos-phere using the LEGOMINDSTORMS RoboticsInvention System. Teamsconsist of up to 10 playerswith the focus on teambuilding, problem solving,creativity, and analyticalthinking.

Teams face an annualchallenge (this year it wasnanotechnology) emulatinga real world event or situa-tion and must research,plan, build, program andtest a fully autonomousrobot capable of accom-plishing the challenge. Theteams have only eightweeks to complete theirrobots before participatingin a local regional competi-tion.

Finally, I would like tocongratulate Council mem-ber Alex Walker and herhusband for the safe arrivalof their second son,Benedict, a brother forChristian. I would also liketo congratulate JacquiBrookes on her OBE andour Honorary Treasurer,Betty McCarthy, on becom-ing a Fellow of the BritishComputer Society (BCS),see page 11.

IET joins forceswith F1 in SchoolsTHE IET IS SUPPORTING F1 in SchoolsLtd, a company which promotes engi-neering to young people around theworld through the appeal of FormulaOne motor racing.

F1 in Schools now operates in 22countries. Teams of students, aged11-18, use CAD/CAM software todesign, analyse, manufacture and testminiature CO2-powered balsa woodF1 cars. Whilst doing this the teamslearn about physics, aerodynamics,design, manufacture, branding,graphics, sponsorship, marketing,leadership/teamwork, media skills andfinancial strategy and apply them in apractical, imaginative, competitiveand exciting way.

The finals take place in March.The IET will be sponsoring the 14-

16 D-Type award in the UK, bothregionally and nationally.

The IET is also supplying a home tothe F1 in Schools team at its SavoyPlace headquarters in London.

THOSE GRADUATING with degrees incivil engineering in 2005 have thehighest employment rate of all engi-neering graduates, at 73.4%, com-pared to the employment rate of62.9% for all graduates.

Also graduates from civil engineer-ing, mechanical engineering, andelectronic engineering can expectabove average starting salaries(£20,325, £20,513 and £19,231respectively) compared to the averagefor all first degree graduates of

£17,715.These are amongst the findings of

the 2007 report of the HigherEducation Careers Services Unit(HECSU) What Do Graduates Do?

Civil engineering, and architectureand building graduates have the low-est levels of unemployment overall,with 3.3 and 3.9% of graduatesunemployed six months after obtain-ing their degree.

The full report is available atwww.prospects.ac.uk/links/wdgd.

How does yours measure up?

Over the last several months Dawn Fitt has been asking engineeringprofessional societies how many of their members are women. Todate she has obtained the figures shown in the chart below.

Institution Total number Percent of members women members

Institution of Lighting Engineers 2,200 45British Computer Society 50,000 18Institute of Chemical Engineers 26,000 18Chartered Institute of Water and 12,000 17Environmental ManagementInstitution of Water Officers 1,700 12Institute of Materials, Minerals 20,000 12and MiningInstitute of Acoustics 2,700 9Institution of Civil Engineers 77,350 7Energy Institute 12,000 7Institute of Engineering Designers 3,600 6Institution of Mechanical Engineers 75,000 5Institution of Engineering and 150,000 5TechnologyInstitution of Railway Signal 4,000 4EngineersChartered Institution of Building 17,000 4Services EngineersRoyal Institution of Naval Architects 8,000 4Welding Institute 3,500 3Institution of Gas Engineers and 3,900 3ManagersInstitute of the Motor Industry 25,000 2Institute of Marine Engineering, 16,000 2Science and TechnologyRoyal Academy of Engineering 1,350 2Institution of Engineering Designers 3,650 2Institute of Plumbing and Heating 12,000 1EngineeringSociety of Operations Engineers 18,000 <1

I am organising a group of WES members to follow up on Dawn’s find-ings, and see what we can learn about why women are so well-represent-ed in some of these groups and not others.

If you are a member of any of these institutions, or another engineeringprofessional society, and are willing to discuss the issue of women’s mem-bership and representation with its membership director, please let meknow.

Carolyn Dougherty , [email protected]

Lady Finniston Awar d

The 2006 WES Lady FinnistonAwar d has been made toSimran Bains .

Simran is studying for anMEng in civil engineering atImperial College London.

WES would like to thank ArupGroup for sponsoring the awardthis year, the IET for support andadministration, and the volun-teers who took part in the selec-tion process.

If any members would like tohelp in next year’s selectionprocess, please let the WESoffice know.

Dawn and Lesley join the FirstLego League

Good prospects for graduate engineers

4 The Woman Engineer – Spring 2007

Pension planning can be com-plex. Each person’s circum-stances are different. The jar-

gon is difficult to understand andthere are a perplexing number ofpensions from which to choose.

In addition, pensions have beenthe subject of some scandalsrecently, which haven’t exactlyinspired confidence or encouragedpeople to consider planning forretirement. Whilst these factors maybe off-putting, it is essential to startmaking your pension provision asearly as possible.

Here are some of the things youwill need to consider.

Types of pension

There are three main types of pen-sion: state, occupational and per-sonal.

The State Pension

This comprises two parts: a basicstate pension, which everyone isentitled to receive, and for thosepeople who are employed, theState Second Pension (S2P).

Basic State Pension✦ To qualify for the basic State

Pension you need to build upenough ‘qualifying years’ beforeyou reach State Pension age. Aqualifying year is a tax year inwhich you have sufficient earningsupon which you have paid, aretreated as having paid or have beencredited with, National Insurancecontributions (NICs).

✦ Depen-ding on howmany qualify-ing years youhave you’ll geta basic StatePensionbetween theweekly mini-mum (£21.06)and maximum

(£84.25) – these are for 2006-2007.If you don’t have enough qualifyingyears, you’ll receive a smaller basicState Pension, or you may notreceive any at all.

✦ If you don’t work or if youearn less than the annual NationalInsurance lower earnings limit(£4,368 in 2006-2007), you can stillbuild up an entitlement if you:

● look after a child aged six orless, and you are the person whoclaims and gets Child Benefit

● or you take care of someonewho is ill or disabled, and you quali-fy for Home ResponsibilitiesProtection.

You can complete a BR19 formto get an up-to-date projection forwhat pension you might receivefrom the state. This can beobtained from the Department ofWork and Pensions.

.State Second Pension (S2P)

✦ S2P replaced SERPS in 2002 –the maximum amount payabledepends on your NICs history andwhen you retire. The maximumadditional pension for 2006-7 is£50.50 pw. To qualify for the maxi-mum pension from SERPS, awoman must have worked for 40years and paid NICs throughout hercareer.

✦ The government does offerindividuals the opportunity to ‘con-tract out’ of S2P by electing fortheir employer’s and their own NICsto fund a personal pension instead.The general consensus now is thatcontracting out is rarely beneficialfor women of any age. If you arethinking about contracting out, it isimportant to take professionaladvice before making a decision.

Occupational pension s

There are two types of occupationalschemes – a final salary or a moneypurchase scheme.

Final SalaryIn a final salary scheme your pen-sion will depend on the level ofyour salary just before retirementand how many years you haveworked for the company. A typicalscheme requires you to have 40years’ service to obtain the maxi-mum pension, which will be basedon two-thirds of your final salary.This type of scheme also ensuresyou know the likely pension youwill receive at retirement. And itmay provide additional benefitssuch as an increasing pension,dependant’s benefits and life cover.

If you are not entitled to themaximum pension, you should con-sider making additional pensioncontributions. For instance, if you

were a member of such a schemefor only 20 working years and yourfinal salary was £36,000, you couldexpect to retire on a pension ofonly £12,000. Most schemes pro-vide the option of buying addedyears or contributing to an addi-tional voluntary scheme (AVC).

There has been a lot of concernabout the stability of some occup-ational pension scheme and thefunding deficit. Going forward, thegovernment has introduced protec-tion for scheme members and acompensation scheme so thisshould not be too much of anissue.

For existing scheme members, it

is best to get independent financialadvice on your scheme funding andyour own position.

Money Purchase In a money purchase scheme yourincome in retirement is based onthe amount that has accumulatedin your pension fund. It is largelydependent on the level of contribu-tions, the investment performance,the changes of the scheme and therates for converting a pension fundto an income on retirement.

There is no cap on the amount ofpension you can now receive, how-ever there is a cap on the amountyou can accumulate in your pensionpot. In general, you can now con-tribute up to a maximum of 100%of salary per annum (up to£215,000 per annum) into yourpension and accumulate a pensionpot of £1.5m across all yourschemes. However, many schemeswill still only allow you to contribute

a maximum of 15% of your salary.In general, few women retire on

an adequate, let alone maximumpension, so you may wish to sup-plement your company scheme bypaying additional voluntary contri -butions (AVCs) into your employer’sscheme, or making contributionsinto a personal pension with anexternal pension provider. In someinstances, you may be able to buy‘added years’ in your employer ’spension scheme.

You can normally contribute upto 15% of your total salary (includ-ing your taxable benefits) into AVCsor to buy added years though youcan contribute much more into a

Pensions for WomenAnna Sofat, director, AJS Wealth Management Limited,explains why it’s never too early to start planning foryour retirement

Anna Sofat presented a work -shop on finance for women atthe 2004 WES conference. Shecan be contacted via her websitewww.ajswealth.com.

Women’s State Pension age will gradually increase to 65between 2010 and 2020.

This means that the age when you can claim your State Pensiondepends upon when you were born:

✦ if you were born on or before 5 April 1950, you can get yourState Pension at 60

✦ if you were born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1955, youcan get your State Pension when you are between 60 and 65

✦ if you were born on or after 6 April 1955, you can get yourState Pension at 65

The Woman Engineer – Spring 2007 9

Early workplace experiencesseem to be discouraging somefemale engineering students

from following engineering careers,according to recent research under-taken by Professor BarbaraBagilhole and her team at theUniversity of Glamorgan, funded bythe Economic and Social ResearchCouncil.

Prof Bagilhole’s research briefing,available on the UKRC website (set-womenresource.org.uk), makesdepressing reading. Despite theincrease in women engineering stu-dents – up from only 3% in 1973

to 15% in2004/05 –there has notbeen anequivalentincrease inwomen engi-neers. Togain anunderstand-ing of whatmight becausing this,women stu-dents’ earliest encounters with theworkplace, in the form of year-longindustrial placements, were exam-ined.

Fitting in

Professor Bagilhole said:“Overwhelmingly, women foundthat, both in the engineering class-room and workplace, their genderwas, unwittingly, likely to ensurethat they received more help thantheir male counterparts. On thenegative side, this indicates thatwomen are widely viewed in engi -neering as less capable.”

Women engineering studentswere found to adopt a number ofstrategies for coping as industrialplacement students. The most sig-nificant were identified as the 5 As:Acting like one of the boys:women attempted to fit in withmale colleagues by showing thatthey did not require special treat-ment and by sharing their cama-raderie;Accepting gender discrimination:women were reluctant to admitthey had been discriminatedagainst;

Achieving a reputation: womensought to overcome discriminationor negative attitudes by demon-strating that they were good, capa-ble engineers, and believed thatconsequently their gender would beinsignificant;Advantages over disadvantages:women suggested that the advan-tages of working in engineeringoutweighed the disadvantages ofbeing a female in a male-dominat-ed environment;Adopting an ‘anti-woman’approach: women engineering stu-dents were found to value their sta -

tus as ‘a novelty’in engineering,were critical ofwomen engineerswho used ‘femi-nine tactics’, andheld traditionallystereotypical viewsof women outsideengineering. ProfBagilhole pointedout that these atti-tudes seem unlike-ly to promote the

interests of women engineers.Although women engineering

students valued their degrees, manysaw it as opening up a variety ofcareer paths. The women surveyedvalued the practical and genericskills that they had gained, in areassuch as report writing and presen-tation skills, and perceived these asbeing highly transferable to theworkplace.

There was a perception amongstthose surveyed that they might bemore employable as a result of theirgender since companies were tryingto recruit more women into techni-cal and professional jobs. But thistended to make them questiontheir abilities – “Am I beingemployed because I’m a woman orbecause they think I’ll be good atthe job?”

Change

Recommendations for changestates that ‘one size does not fitall’.

Different types of students at dif -ferent institutions have differentneeds and priorities, so policydevelopment needs to be adapted

to ensure it is suitable for its targetaudience.

Among the report’s recommen-dations, careers advice throughouthigher education and mentoringschemes are seen as particularlyimportant.

Prior to industrial placements,gender-oriented preparation andsupport mechanisms should beavailable for students embarking onthese. Also pro-active relationshipsare needed between engineeringemployers and higher educationinstitutions in order to developappropriate teaching practices that

prepare students for the workplace.The report also recommends that

teaching and learning methodsshould be modified in order toattract more students and to main -tain and stimulate the interest ofcurrent students, by introducingmore practical, project based work,team work and optional modules.

To attract more women to takeup and remain in engineeringcareers, companies should intro-duce greater transparency to theirrecruitment criteria by stating spe -cific criteria that are essential tocarry out the job – and shouldshow developing career paths forindividuals. In addition, engineeringcompanies should facilitate net-working to allow women engineersto meet others who may haveshared their experiences.

WES MEMBER Haifa Takruri-Rizkand her research team at theUniversity of Salford have foundthat in North West England,three-quarters of women gradu-ating with a science, engineeringor technology degree are notentering the related industriesand of those that do, a high per-centage leave.

The Salford team has beenworking for the last 18 monthson a European Social Fund (ESF)funded project entitled ‘Womenin North West Engineering’(WEWIN), that has surveyed localfirms and practising engineers toassess current working practices.

A major finding is that theengineering profession clearlysuffers from a number of mis-conceptions. In order to improveits appeal, engineering needs toupdate its present rather old-fashioned image.

Also the study discovered thatthe under-representation ofwomen is a more complex issuethan the traditional view of glassceilings, pay gaps, and discrimi-nation would suggest. The prob-lems are widespread and differfrom sector to sector. One of themost important points to note isthat there is not just one organi-sational culture at work, thereare many. These organisationalcultures actively work againstwomen and may seek to excludethem from the technical work-force.

Ten main actions are recom-mended:

1 Alter the image of the engi-neering profession 2 Encourage early exposure toengineering concepts 3 Improve HR policies 4 Monitor implementation ofHR policies and acton results 5 Implement returners’schemes 6 Flexible organisational cul-tures 7 Affiliations with externalsuppliers and business cus-tomers via equality based pro-curement policies8 Encourage networks andmentoring (formal and infor-mal)9 Training and developmentfor all employees regardless ofsex or position10 Equal pay reviews Commenting on these find-

ings Haifa said: “Industry needsto wake up to the potential thatwomen can offer and take posi-tive action to change their atti-tudes and embrace a more inclu-sive working culture thatenhances the participation ofwomen. We are not looking togive women special treatmentbut we want industry to takepositive action to realise theclear business benefits of a morediverse workforce.”

For more details seewww.cse.salford.ac.uk/wewin.

Why don’t female engineeringstudents become engineers?

Engineering industry is losing out

8

The Woman Engineer – Spring 20078

ensure that the message of sustain-ability and energy and water con-servation is heard and I try to putthat message into action throughmy work.”

To aid this aim, Katy created arenewable energy tool kit for archi-tects, engineers and developers asher MSc dissertation. It is a CDbased toolkit which includes designguidance, renewable energy tech-nology site suitability and whole lifecosting tools together with fact-sheets, checklists and case studies.It has been nominated for the BestEnvironmental Initiative of the Year2006 at the NICEIC ElectricalIndustry Awards.

The other big event for Katy lastyear was her wedding in December.“We’re going on honeymoon toNew Zealand in April and I can’twait!” she said.

In addition to giving talks aboutengineering at schools and colleges,Katy is involved with young peopleas a scout leader. “Since I was 18, Ihave worked in a variety of rolesfrom Assistant Cub Scout Leader toDistrict Explorer Commissionerwithin the Scout Association. I amcurrently working as a scout leaderproviding adventure and activitiesfor young people aged 10 to 14within my localarea. It’s the scout-ing centenary thisyear so there arelots of activitiesplanned.”

She also lovescooking.

“When I get thechance we oftenhave friends and family round formeals. Then in a quiet momentyou’ll probably find me curled upwith a book or trying to get togrips with my knitting – my currentchallenge!”

Securing on-linecommunicationsMAIRE MCLOONE , a lecturer andRoyal Academy of EngineeringResearch Fellow, is the winner ofthe Women’s Engineering Societyprize. Maire leads a research teamlooking at the security in moderncommunications applications suchas email, online shopping andbanking in the Electronics,Communications and InformationTechnology Research Institute atQueens University Belfast.

Maire was exposed to engineer-ing early in life. “My father decidedto build a hydro-electric scheme onthe river running by our house.Then in secondary school, I enjoyedmathematics, physics and techno-logy, and with two older brothers inengineering, I decided that it wasalso the career for me,” said Maire.

“I studied for my degree in elec-trical and electronic engineering atQueen’s University Belfast. In thefinal year I was sponsored by alocal company to carry out aresearch project in the area of datasecurity. I thoroughly enjoyed beingable to research new ideas anddesigns using cutting-edge tech-nologies and as a result, I decided

to studyfor a PhDin dataencryptionarchitec-tures. In2003, Iwasawarded afive-year

Royal Academy of Engineeringresearch fellowship which hasallowed me to further develop myresearch career, and in 2004, I wasappointed as a lecturer in theSystem-on-Chip group at Queen’s.“

Upon receiving her prize, Mairesaid: “I was very honoured to beawarded the 2006 Women’sEngineering Society prize at the IETYoung Woman Engineer of the Yearevent. I thoroughly enjoy workingin the field of electronic engineer-ing and I would strongly encourageother females to consider engineer-ing as a career choice.

“There is a vast range of oppor-tunities available to women in theComms/IT industry. Consideringthat the consumer electronic mar-ket targets both men and women,it makes sense that there should bemore women in the developmentand design stages. Women bring adifferent, but equally important, setof qualities to the workplace tomen, and it is the combination ofthese two sets of skills that com-panies wish to exploit.

“To encourage more women intoengineering, I believe that thosewomen already in engineeringcareers need to be more visible. Bydoing this, we can begin to chal-lenge young people’s perspectivethat engineering isn’t just for men.We need to get across to younggirls that engineering is an exciting,

rewarding and well-paid careerchoice.”

Maire practises this philosophy.“I have been actively involved in

a number of schemes for femalesecondary school students for manyyears, including:

✦ Working with students at anall-girls comprehensive school inBelfast in the Pupil ResearchInitiative (PRI) scheme.

✦ Acting as a role model in aWISE promotional video aimed atfemale secondary school students inNorthern Ireland.

✦ Presenting at the SentinusGETSET Insight into EngineeringProgramme which aims to promoteengineering as a career to femalestudents.

✦ Presenting an interactive lec-ture on ‘Cyber security – DataEncryption Technology’ to over 600secondary level students at the2006 Belfast Telegraph Lectures forSchools.”

In her free time Maire enjoys jog-ging, yoga, skiing and seeing theworld. “Both my husband and Ilove to travel – to date we’ve trav-elled to six continents, with onlyAntarctica left to visit.”

The Dyson Young WomanEngineering Apprentice Award, anew award focusing on theachievements of women on anapprenticeship scheme, was wonby CHARLOTTE DEAN .

In the same week thatCharlotte received this award, shewon another award for an inven-tion designed aspart of herapprenticeship atthe UPM Shottonpaper mill.

The YoungWoman EngineeringApprentice of the Yearaims to reward anapprentice who hasexceeded therealms of hernormal dutiesand shown adynamicapproach tothe solution of engineering prob-lems.

During her apprenticeshipCharlotte was responsible fordesigning and implementing a

training rig for testing softwareand hardware and for being partof a focus group that looks atways of getting more women intothe profession.

Upon receiving the awardCharlotte said: “It’s been a whirl-wind week and I was honouredto be recognised in this way. It’s

important to me that otheryoung women can see whata rewarding career engi-neering can be and agreat way into the indus-try is with an apprentice-ship.

“I’ve really enjoyedworking at UPMShotton and wasdelighted when theyoffered me the job ofautomation technicianfollowing my workplacement.

“I’d like to thank my col-leagues at the mill for their sup-port and encouragement duringmy apprenticeship and I look for-ward to the challenges that lieahead during my career here.”

SUZANNE STAMFORD , anElectronics Platoon Commanderwithin the third Battalion of theRoyal Electrical and MechanicalEngineers (REME), won the MaryGeorge Memorial Prize. This prizeis given to a young woman whoshows great promise in the pro-fession but with insufficient expe-rience to be eligible for theYoung Woman Engineer award.

Currently Suzanne provideselectronic support to 20Armoured Brigade within Iraq. Asthe Platoon leader Suzannemakes engineering decisions in a

variety of areas including beingresponsible for maintenance of afleet of robotic ‘wheelbarrows’that are used to detonate orinspect explosive devices.

Suzanne is also currently inte-grating a digital communicationssupport solution for a fledglingdigital combat communicationnetwork. She is responsible forthe training, preparation anddeployment of 35 members ofthe Platoon and ensures that suf-ficient technicians possess the rel-evant trade skills to repair equip-ment.

Charlotte scoops two awards

5The Woman Engineer – Spring 2007

personal pension arrangement (upto 100% of your salary to a maxi-mum of £215,000 including anycontribution to your employerscheme). The 15% ceiling will usu-ally include contributions you mayalready be making into your com-pany scheme. Each method of ‘top-ping up’ has advantages and disad-vantages, so you should seek inde-pendent advice before making yourdecision.

It is particularly important to con-sider making additional contribu-tions if you have had a career breakor have changed jobs frequently.

Personal pension planIf you are self-employed or yourcompany does not provide a pen-sion scheme, you will need to thinkabout providing your own pensionby paying into a personal pensionplan (PPP). There is no limit on thebenefits payable in retirement butthere is a limit on the amount youcan pay in (100% of your salary to

a maximum of £215,000 each year)and there is an overall cap on theamount you can accumulate in yourpension pot (£1.5m).

It is never too soon to start pay-ing into a pension because you getfar better value from the contribu-tions you make while you areyounger, as your investment willhave more time to grow. Forinstance, if you pay regular contri -butions into a PPP throughout your20s, 30s, 40s and 50s, the moneyyou paid in your 20s will accountfor at least 50% of the pension youreceive at retirement!

Most personal pensions are veryflexible and cost effective thesedays – you can make monthly orlump sum contributions, you canstop and restart payment (withoutany penalties) and you can invest ina large number of funds. If you areemployed, but not a member of anoccupational scheme, your emp-loyer can also make payments intoyour PPP for you.

Pension planning tips

The state retirement age is now 65for women and to qualify for themaximum state pension, you willneed to make national insurancecontributions for 40 years. There istalk of the retirement age increas-ing to 67 in the not too distantfuture. Thus for most of us, this isnot going to be sufficient for ourneeds in retirement and you shouldmake additional provision.

If you are employed and you areeligible to join a final salary scheme,then it is highly likely to be yourbest option. If you are eligible tojoin a Money Purchase or GroupPersonal Pension scheme whereyour employer is making a contri-bution, then it is still likely to beyour best option.

If your employer does not con-tribute to a pension scheme, thenconsider setting up a PersonalPension – these are very flexibleand cost effective. However, likeany investment these should be

reviewed regularly to ensure yourinvestment fund is performing well.Even if you are not earning, youcan pay £3600 gross (or £2808 net)per annum into a personal pension.

If you have frozen pension fromprevious employers or a personalpension, you should receive annualstatements to give you an idea ofwhat you might receive at retire-ment. If you have lost touch, youcan trace a pension through thePension Tracing Service. You cancall them 0845 6002 537.

Finally, the earlier you start con-tributing to a pension, the less youwill need to pay into the plan – as arough rule of thumb for every 10year delay, you will need to doubleyour contribution rate. So be goodto yourself and start a pension asearly in your 20s as possible.

The Woman Engineer wouldlike to hear about members’own experiences of how theyhave managed their pensionsplanning.

Exciting developments usingthe conductive and light-emitting properties of poly-

mers are set to lead a revolution incommunications.

Rigid and brittle silicon-basedmaterials at present dominate themicroelectronics industry. Over thepast ten years, increasing advanceshave been made in electronicapplications of plastic materialswithin flexible displays and sen-sors, smart tags and thin-film bat-teries giving designers scope todevelop a wealth of futuristicproduct concepts. Most important-ly, plastic electronic materials per-mit comparatively simple and,therefore, more cost-effectivemanufacture due to their lowertemperature plastic substrate com-patibility and solution-based pat-terning techniques similar to print-ing on paper.

Cathy Curling explained howshe became involved with polymerelectronics whilst researching anddelivering on high-tech pro-gramme for Philips Research UK.

In 2004 she joined Plastic Logicin a senior management role. This

company is a University ofCambridge spin-out developingnovel solution-based manufactur-ing processes for revolutionarylight-weight and robust paper-likedisplay products.

A flexible backplane containslayers of circuitry printed on plasticsubstrates. An electrophoreticmedia is placed over this – a thinplastic film with charged capsulesof black and white that movearound to create the display. Atouch sensor can be placed underthe backplane. The processingtechnology is much cheaper thanthat required to produce siliconchip devices.

Cathy painted a vision of thefuture in which electronic displayscould become part of the furnish-ings in a room and we couldaccess the internet via a plasticpanel on our sleeve or handbag.Flexible displays could be particu-larly useful in supermarkets wherethey could be updated remotely.Intelligent toys could be pro-grammed by children or could tellchildren how to use them. Printedbooks and newspapers could

become a thing of the past as weall carry a flexible A4 size screenthat can be unrolled to read thehundreds of books stored – or willgive access to newspaper websitesvia a mobile phone.

Needless to say this technologyhas attracted much interest andbusiness partners have emergedwho are investing in the develop-ment of commercial applications.In January it was announced thatPlastic Logic has attracted $100m(£50.6m) to fund a plant inDresden, Germany. This should beoperational by the end of 2008.The initial products from the fac-tory will be about A4 size, using apolyethylene terephthalate sub-strate – a plastic used for drinksbottles. It is anticipated that thesheets produced could be cheapenough to do jobs for which cur-rent silicon devices are too expen-sive.

The University of Cambridgewas particularly successful, Cathyexplained, at taking creativeground breaking technologiesdeveloped within the universityand developing clusters of collabo-rative academia and small businessplayers, together with internation-al venture capitalist investors, totake these forward. Plastic Logicwas now at the forefront of ‘plas-tic fantastic’ dynamic productslikely to dominate the strategicdirection of innovative electronicsinto the 21st century.

Cathy is currently an independ -ent technical consultant covering aportfolio of advisory roles, includ -ing strategy and technical directionfor new business opportunities,government funded programmesand lecturing to a variety of audi -ences.

Daphne Jackson lectur e

Dynamic Plastic: Are we at the dawn ofa new printable electronics revolution?presented by Cathy Curling

The plastic e-book

6 The Woman Engineer – Spring 2007

This year’s Karen Burt Award win-ner, Louise McDevitt , is projectmanager for Atkins Transport

Planning and is based in Belfast.Upon receiving her award Louise

said: “I’m delighted to have won theKaren Burt Award. Obtaining mychartered status was something that Ihad been aiming at for quite a whileand the added bonus of winning thisaward has made it all the moremeaningful to me.

“I never had the goodfortune to know Karen buther work has clearly beenan inspiration to femaleengineers across all disci-plines. We should continueto celebrate the fantasticexamples of women suc-ceeding in engineering andrecognise the valuable con-tribution that they maketowards the progression ofscience, technology andenvironmental evolution.”

Louise has always beeninspired by those who haveovercome personal and pro-fessional obstacles to excel.She greatly admired the lateMarjorie “Mo” Mowlam,the former Secretary ofState for Northern Irelandand WES patron, whopassed away in 2005.

Louise first started considering acareer in engineering after a WISEevent whilst she was in secondaryschool.

“I have quite an analytical andpractical personality so it wasinevitable that I would end up as anengineer, whether I wanted to ornot”, said Louise. “Through a WISEevent, I was given the opportunity toworkshadow different types of engi-neers for a week when I was trying todecide which GCSE subjects tochoose to study.

“It was the opportunity to visit amajor civil engineering site (the build-ing of the Lagan Weir in Belfast) thatmade the decision for me to studycivil engineering at university.”

She graduated from QueensUniversity, Belfast in 1996 with aBEng (Hons) in civil engineering andjoined the Department for RegionalDevelopment (NI) Roads Service as agraduate civil engineer. She workedfor a while for the London Borough

of Bromley as a transport planner/traffic engineer, then joined Transportfor London where she was a memberof the core team that introduced thecongestion charging scheme in cen-tral London in February 2003. Duringthis time she also studied part-time atImperial College /University CollegeLondon to obtain an MSc inTransport.

In 2004 she joined her present

company where she manages and co-ordinates transport planning projects.

“At the current time, I am respon-sible for the day-to-day running forthe projects in our Belfast officewhich are associated with our princi -pal public sector client in the region,”said Louise. “This involves co-ordinat-ing tasks amongst the various teams,which are quite often distributedacross the UK in different Atkinsoffices, as well as liaising with theclient on project issues. The role canquite often also extend to includeconsultations with key stakeholdersand members of the public.

“I’m also involved in businessdevelopment – bidding for new workand developing relationships withpotential new clients – in order tohelp develop the business in NorthernIreland.”

Multi-tasking is a key requirementfor her job, Louise has discovered.

“I enjoy the diversity of transportplanning as it includes all the techni-

cal aspects of design, traffic model-ling and economic and transportappraisals through to more personalaspects such as public consultationsand seminars/ conferences. For exam-ple, at the minute I’m involved inprojects associated with park-and-ride, rapid transit, local transportstudies and temporary traffic man-agement associated with building amajor sewer in Belfast. There is never

a dull moment!”Louise still finds time to

act as a mentor and topromote career opportuni-ties in engineering.

“I’m currently the Atkinstraining co-ordinator forthe Belfast TransportPlanning office so I lookafter the training needs ofthe full team. However, amore important aspect ofthis role is that I’m a men-tor for a number of thegraduates who are work-ing under graduate train-ing programmes to aim forchartered status eitherwith the Institution ofHighways andTransportation (IHT) (withwhom I’m a charteredengineer) as well as theInstitution of Logistics andTransport and the

Institution of Civil Engineers.Louise is a member of the Northern

Ireland IHT committee and plays anactive role in their YoungProfessionals Panel which promotesthe profession to school and univer-sity students and organises events foryounger Institution members.

“I’m currently involved in organis-ing a full-day site visit to some of thehigh profile engineering projects cur-rently underway in Belfast,” saidLouise.

“I believe that women are gettingmore involved in the engineeringfield, compared to say ten years ago,but I think more needs to be done topromote engineering as a viablecareer for a young professional – andthis includes issues such as salary andstatus. Quite often engineers areportrayed as part of the trade indus-try and not as a professional industrythat requires skills and ability in paral-lel with other professions, such asmedicine, law and banking. I think a

Transport planner who pioneeredcongestion charging

77The Woman Engineer – Spring 2007

lot more could be done to promoteengineering by careers teachers atschool.”

Her own industry needs to attractmore transport planners and engi -neers as there is currently a nation-wide shortage.

“Transport, and its impact on theenvironment, is something that islikely to remain high on the politicalagenda for some time to come.However, the transport industrydoes recognise that there is anationwide shortage of suitableskilled personnel and is starting toput in place some tools to enableschool leavers to enter the industryat a younger age, such as transportqualifications,” said Louise.

Louise is a great believer in aim-ing for a good work-life balance.“Outside of work, I relax by hiking,swimming, going to the gym –although nowhere near as often asI should – and drinking red wine!”she said.

KATY DEACON , an engineer in theElectrical Team at KirkleesMetropolitan Council, is the winnerof the IET Young Woman Engineerof the Year Award.

Commenting on heraward Katy said: “I believethe winner of this awardshould be an enthusiasticambassador for engineeringand I am honoured to havebeen given this title. It willallow me to go out into thepublic arena and speakexpressively, passionatelyand honestly about myengineering experiences.I’m looking forward to act-ing as a positive rolemodel, empowering youngpeople to aspire to be an engineerin whichever field suits them.

“I have learned through experi-ence that the path through anengineering career is not alwayssmooth; however it is often excitingand always interesting.

“I think that the key to havingmore women engineers is to breakdown the barriers of communic-ation and have more women engi-neers in obvious public view. Once

interest has been piqued and rolemodels identified, it is important tolet teenagers experience the excite-ment of engineering through themany schemes which are currentlyavailable.”

Katy always knew that she want-

ed to be an engineer. As a child herChristmas presents were LegoTechnic sets, which she spent hours“building, dismantling and buildingagain.” She took part in theEngineering Education Scheme andWISE events at school and thentrained as an aeronautical engineer.

“I found choosing my engineer-ing discipline very difficult, optingeventually for aeronautical engi-neering as it seemed very exciting. Idid not realise then how many

other fields areavailable and howknowledge of onestrand of engineer-ing can provide apathway into manyother areas.

“I have worked asan apprentice onthe shop floor of anaircraft hanger, in aquality managementand maintenanceplanning office, as asupport technician

for an electronics company andnow as an electrical system design-er and project manager in a localauthority. Each aspect of my workhas been enjoyable and very inter-esting. There is an endless amountto learn, every project has new les-

sons. Every job built on my experi-ence. No experiences have beenwasted.”

At Kirklees Council, Katy isresponsible for the successful man-agement and delivery of commis-sioned project work and is particu-larly involved in renewable energyinstallations.

“I find my work challenging, var-ied, rewarding and fun. Every dayrequires a solution to be thoughtthrough or a question to ask oranswer. Producing a design solutionfor a client, and managing itthrough to completion on site andhandover, gives me a real sense ofachievement. I enjoy using my skills,experience and training to producean outcome that satisfies my client’srequirements.”

Kirklees Council is one of theleading councils in the UK forrenewable energy installations.

“Our target in Kirklees is toincorporate renewable energysources into the design of all newdevelopments procured by theCouncil to achieve by 2010/11 atarget of at least 30% of the esti-mated total energy consumption.This covers both new build andlarge refurbishment projects and isno easy task!” said Katy

“There is an urgent need to

Young WomanEngineer of the Y ear

Young Woman Engineer of the

Year prizewinners: from left to right

Charlotte Dean, Katy Deacon, Maire

McLoone, Suuzanne Stamford

Champion of renewable energy