Category: EngTog News

International Women’s Day is a day to imagine and reflect on how far we have come towards a gender equal world which is free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.

Our group has always been active during this week working alongside our WES Tyne and Tees Cluster friends and our Climate Champion, Julie Harrison, due to the significant links with SDG 5 Gender Equality.

The week included very many events which included:

. Our Chair representing EngTog and the UK at UN CSW 67

. A face to face multi sector event to a group of girls in at Outwood Academy Riverside Middlesbrough

. Attending a Power of Women Campaign event

. Part taking in Durham University’s Earth Day

. We launched our new Inclusion for Good page.

We can all help the world become more diverse, equitable, and inclusive where difference is valued and celebrated.

At Engineering Together we #EmbraceEquity.

Paula McMahon and Andrea Pearson ready to inspire girls on IWD. Photo by Julie Harrison.

It was an honour that our Chair and Founder of Primary Voices was asked to speak at Durham University on their EARTH DAY Climate Action and Impact panel.

Some of our favourite topics came up which very much echoed our ONE VOICE ethos…

Outcomes not ownership

Nurturing networks

Enabling efficiency

Value one vision

Operating openness

Influencing with integrity

Collaboration with compromise

Emphasis on equality

The room with a view was a great venue for the diverse audience to hear from a wide range of speakers from all sectors. It is clear that shouting about our many success stories and providing people with stories of hope is vital. Sharing tangible and transferable outcomes and actions is vital to ensure that others can learn from.

Thanks to all who attended the latest online Mentioning the Unmentionable event on Neurodiversity.  Listen and watch on our YouTube channel using this direct link –  https://youtu.be/pjVtllj-3J4.

Whilst everyone’s experiences are unique to themselves there were things which we can all learn from. The personal stories from Tosin, Clare and Rosie really resonated with many in our audience.

The solutions to make the world more welcoming to our speakers also offers solutions to make everyone feel more included and cared for. Our workplaces would really benefit from some of the suggestions provided. For further learning also check out Rosie’s Divergent Consulting website at https://www.divergent-consulting.co.uk.

Mary provided insights and details of online learning resource for teachers, teaching assistants, SENCOs, and school leaders for supporting autistic and neurodivergent pupils. The concepts of this are also highly relevant to our STEM workplaces. For further learning check out Mary’s resource at https://www.tripleadurham.co.uk  and her other resource recommendation at https://salvesen-research.ed.ac.uk/leans.

This series of talks on difficult subjects to inform and support is proving to be very popular. You may be interested some of the previous events in the series:

·    The Parenthood Penalty – https://youtu.be/02y_c6FdRJE

·    Menopause! – https://youtu.be/T4H9K1d6A3M

Hartlepool’s Favourite paper Stockton Billingham Life included an article today about about our Chair.

Read all about it in the February issue – 2 February 2023 Issue 142 – Hartlepool Life

Our Chair Paula was joined by one of the Women’s Engineering Society Tyne and Tees members Sally Postle. at the Glebe Primary school in Norton, Stockton-on-Tees.

Students remembered Paula’s visit over a year ago and knew all about her work as a Civil Engineer. However they gained a wider understanding of Civil Engineering as Sally told them all about her work as well.

Bewley Primary have drawn up their ideas of a Greener Future in Billingham building on the Climate Change, Scientists & Engineers Needed sessions our Climate Champion Julie delivered.

These sessions are funded by the UK Space Agency and include looking at space travel and living to think about how they use water, recycle everything and have their own energy supplies. This is used to help students think beyond the here and now and imagine a greener future in space and on earth.

Here are Engineering Together we loved them all including… Eco-Ville, Rose-Ville, Eco-Heaven, Solar City, Eco-Paradise

Here are EngTog we do like to celebrate however before we do we thought what is more important is inspiring the next generation, working together and ensuring the future is sustainable.

So before our Christmas festivities started we assessed and gave feedback on the wonderful work from Dyke House School as part of the ‘Climate Change, Scientists & Engineers Needed’ UK Space Agency funded project.

We were pleased to see the many different sustainable solutions proposed, many of which utilised lessons from the International Space Station.

Paula was presented at the North East Chamber Business Awards with the Community and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Inspiring Female of the Year. 

Then just a few hours later her work as a STEM Ambassador was recognised with her receiving an award for the most hours – the second year in a row!

Congratulations!

Green Careers Week Monday 7^th to Friday 11^th of November 2022 was a very busy week for our Climate Champion Julie. She interacted with 1351 students during the week.

Julie delivered a Green Careers talk for all year groups at Dyke House Secondary & Sixth Form as well as an in person ‘Climate Change, Scientists & Engineers Needed’ session as well as online sessions and a workshop at Bewley Primary who have submitted their Green future designs to our engineers at Engineering Together to look at and decide which ones we would like to see developed further.

Julie is looking at an exhibition in the Spring of 2023 where students will present their ideas for a Greener Future.

This is all possible due to the Inspiron Learning Climate Change, Scientists & Engineers Needed project UK Space Agency funded project where sustainable solutions on the International Space Station are used to demonstrate how we can be more sustainable on earth. Julie and her STEM helpers use examples of water supply, recycling, energy supply and experiments with mushrooms which highlight the contrast between current systems on earth and those on space. The aim is to encourage students to become more sustainable and move away from the use of fossil fuels whilst thinking of how space can help now and in the future.

The Cleveland Scientific Institution funded H2 solar powered model cars are put to good use throughout the projects and the students were amazed to see the cars working using only water and solar power.