WiN Representation at ICWES15 in Adelaide

WiN at ICWES15

Tanya Kooymans, Dr Joanne Lackenby and Kaitlyn Toole attended the 15th international Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists in Adelaide , a450 strong event included guests from a vast range of countries from the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.  In addition to attending the conference and undertaking a number of facility visits, they also (wo)manned a WiN and ANSTO booth for the duration of the event to raise awareness of WiN and the role of women in nuclear science and technology applications.

The Hon. Kate Ellis, Australian Federal Minister for Employment Participation and Childcare and Minister for the Status of Women gave the opening address and keynote speakers included Dr Cathy Foley, Chief Research Scientist with CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering and the first woman to be President of Federation of Australian Science and Technology Societies (FASTS), who discussed the importance of work/life balance; and Dame Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell, part of the research team that was the first to discover radio pulsars, who spoke about being one of the very early women in, what was and still remains, a very male dominated field.

Other topics covered included the importance of role modelling and mentoring programs such as the ANSTO supported Scientists in Schools program; the challenges of attracting and retaining women engineers and scientists and methods for overcoming these; and the industry commitment to diversity and equality in the workplace.

The ICWES15 Gala Dinner was the venue for the launch of the Women Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Clothing prototype collection designed as part of the Women in Engineering National Committee’s Fit for Work Project. We look forward to the work of this group on what is a real safety concern for women working in SET fields.

Further information on the conference can be found here: http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/women-engineering/icwes-15-conference-material

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