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Women's Engineering Society eNewsletter
September 2011
Greetings!
 
Welcome to this months newsletter.
Only a week to go before the WES annual conference takes place, with a wide range of speakers discussing all aspects of road and rail transportation thee day looks set to be an exciting one, for more details and to register please visit the conference website. Don't forget that the WES AGM follows on from the conference on the 7th October, please come along and find out what has been happening and the plans for the future and if you would like to get involved we would be delighted to hear from you.
If you have any events or stories that you would like to share with the WES Office please let us know.
 
The WES e-news team

 
In This Issue
Mentoring and Leadership Workshops
Jaguar Land Rover to sponsor 12 students at WES Conference
Call for Nominations from the Royal Acadamey of Engineering
FameLab
WES needs your help
Getting There..
WES AGM
Hell & High Water
Inspirational Women shortlisted for WISE Awards
CITB Construction Skills launches consultation

Mentoring and Leadership workshops

 

Mentoring is a powerful personal development and empowerment tool and an effective way of helping people to progress in their careers. It is a partnership between two people (mentor and mentee) normally working in a similar field or sharing similar experiences. It is a helpful relationship based upon mutual trust and respect. While having a mentor is very beneficial, the benefits of being a mentor are often overlooked. Mentoring provides development opportunities for mentors as well as great personal satisfaction. Being a mentor can improve your leadership skills and enable you to learn from alternative approaches and different ways of thinking. It can be challenging, inspiring and enlightening.

These interactive seminar/workshops aim to show the benefits of an effective mentoring programme to individuals and to the organisation as a whole, and give attendees some 'hands-on' experience of mentoring.

October 11th ('Mentoring for Success' in Cambridge) October 31st ('Mentoring and Leadership' in Bristol) November 22nd ('Mentoring and Leadership' in Uxbridge)

 

Or for more information contact Jacqui Hogan (MentorSET Manager)

 

Jaguar Land Rover to sponsor 12 student places Women's Engineering Society (WES) Conference

 

We are delighted to announce that Jaguar Land Rover will be sponsoring 12 students under the Student Bursary Programme at this year's WES Annual Conference on Friday 7th October.

 

Jan Peters, President of the Society, is delighted with Jaguar Land Rover's support and says: "Giving students the opportunity to meet and talk with women working in the engineering sector, using their qualifications and having a meaningful and fulfilling job is important to the skills supply chain. I'm delighted that JLR see the conference as a great forum for students and professionals to connect. WES is about inspiring the next generation and celebrating technology and the women creating it.

 

"Whether you already work in road and rail or are interested in technical aspects of other forms of transport, 'Getting there' is for you."

 

Working with the IET and WTS, Getting There includes an inspiring technical, yet accessible programme along with professional development enhancing workshops. Delegates will have the chance to meet and inspire others, share best practice and showcase women at their best.

 

WES will be communicating the bursary through its usual routes but Peters calls on academics and lecturers in Further and Higher Education to encourage their students to apply by submitting a statement on their career aspirations to [email protected] Students will receive their full conference fee and a proportional contribution towards their travel costs refundable at the conference.

 

 

The Society has been inspiring and supporting women as engineers, scientists and technical leaders for over 90 years.

 

This year's event, 'Getting There', will focus on road and rail transportation and provide an important industry platform for discussing the latest issues and trends in road and rail. It will also discuss and highlight other areas such as current and future policy drivers, technological developments, sustainability initiatives and engineering innovations.

Full conference details can be obtained from the WES website  

Call for Nominations from the Royal Academy of Engineering
 

The call for nominations is now open for the following awards and medals.

CLOSING DATE: FRIDAY 4TH NOVEMBER 2011

The Prince Philip Medal

The Prince Philip Medal is awarded biennially to an engineer of any nationality who has made an exceptional contribution to engineering as a whole through practice, management or education.

The Silver Medal

The Silver Medal recognises an outstanding and demonstrated personal contribution to British engineering, which is resulting in successful market exploitation, by an engineer working in the United Kingdom, with less than 22 years in full time employment or equivalent on 1 January in year of award.
Up to four medals are awarded annually.

The Sir Frank Whittle Medal

Named after Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle OM KBE FREng FRS HonFRAeS, father of the jet propulsion engine, this medal is awarded to an engineer, normally resident in the UK, for outstanding and sustained achievement which has contributed to the well-being of the nation. The field of activity in which the Medal is presented changes annually. This year the theme is Engineering Innovations in Sports Performance Engineering focusing on specialist equipment manufacture and instrumentation, and performance analysis.

For further information please email Sylvia Hampartumian  or call 0207 766 0648

 

FameLab

 

The search is on for the new voices of science communication. The regional heats of FameLab UK, the UK's biggest competition for new talent to engage the public in science, will start in October 2011.

FameLab was set up in 2004 by Cheltenham Science Festival in partnership with NESTA.  In 2007 the competition was adopted by the British Council as one of its flagship science engagement projects first in a South East Europe pilot and then expanding this in 2010 to include 16 across Europe, Asia and Africa.  In 2012, 20 countries will be taking part in the competition.

We're looking to attract enthusiastic early career scientists to take part in order to identify a new generation of individuals who can engage the public.  FameLab not only inspires the next generation of science communicators but excels at building the skills that will enable scientists and engineers to explain, debate, discuss and be challenged. 

The competition is open to contestants over 21 years old and working in or studying science, technology, engineering, medicine or maths in the UK.  Contestants have just 3 minutes to prove themselves to a panel of expert judges, with only the best going forward to the next round.

Heats are taking place in:

Newcastle, Centre for Life on 8 October 2011

Oxford, Science Oxford on 20 and 25 October 2011 (final on 17 November)

 

Cardiff, Chapter Arts Centre on 12 November 2011

 

 

Glasgow, Glasgow Science Centre on 19 November 2011

London, Kings College London on 23 and 30 November 2011 (final on 30 November)

Manchester, Museum of Science and Industry on 3 December 2011

 

Contestants who can't attend one of the regional heats will also be able to submit their entries online.

The UK National Final will take place on 21 March 2012 at the Royal Institution of Great Britain.

Contestants taking part in the final will get the chance to take part in a weekend FameLab Master Class with Professor of Sciences and Society at Bristol University, Kathy Sykes, and experienced trainer, specialising in media & communication skills, Malcolm Love.  The UK winner, chosen at the final, will win a place in the International Final and take home �1000 for themselves and up to �750 to spend on a science communication activity, whether it's attending a conference, further training or developing a new event or activity.

If you want to find out more please visit the website

 

WES needs your help

 

WES is run by a Council of volunteers and we currently have a number of vacancies. We are currently looking for

 

Event co-ordinators in the local regions and

Someone to organise and run two Technical leaders events each year.

 

If you can help or know someone who can particularly in the above roles please contact the WES Office.

 

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And finally....
If you have any articles you would like to have featured please contact the WES office  by clicking here.
We'd love to hear your stories of your schools outreach activities or ideas to inpsire young people that we can share across our community.

Don't forget to forward on our e-newsletter to your friends and contacts, male and female and help to inpsire more young women to consider engineering and technology as a career.

With good wishes
the e-News team. 

Getting there logo

Getting There

 

A key part of the WES strategy is connecting women across different parts of the profession and our annual conference is a primary way of doing this. We are delighted to be holding Getting There in association with the women's Transportation seminar

 

We will have technical breakfast briefings, invited and submitted talks as well as two leadership workshops. A symposium on engaging girls in engineering is also being planned. Register now for the early bird rate and make sure to book your hotel soon to get good rates!

 

WES is delighted to welcome Thoughtworks on board as a core partner. Thoughtworks are a software consultancy; we create software solutions to help solve our clients' biggest and most pressing business problems. This means we work continually with clients to find out what their problems are through face to face conversation and ongoing contact, usually at their offices. We design innovative solutions and combine our code writing skills, inquisitive minds and creativity to deliver awesome software and champion software excellence."

 

Thoughtworks are taking an active role in scoping the Set to Lead project and are actively engaged in developing a student event in London for the Autumn. Keep your eyes peeled for further news and find out more on the WES website 

 

WES AGM 2011

 

Venue: IET, 2 Savoy Place, London WC2R 0BL

The 2011 AGM of WES will take place at 17:30 on Friday 7 October 2011 at the IET, 2 Savoy Place, London. Location and directions information via the IET website. Further AGM information on the WES website.

 

 

 

 

Hell & High Water - New Play from the Mikron Theatre

 

Three men had a vision,
hundreds toiled to make it a reality

In the turbulent times of the Industrial Revolution, Manchester's demand for coal was insatiable and there was an urgent need to get it there quickly and cheaply.

Mikron's new show for 2011 takes us back to 1761, when three men had a vision and determination that literally moved mountains.

 

For more details visit the website  

 

Inspirational women shortlisted for WISE Awards

 

The nominations for this year's WISE Awards have been announced, celebrating some of the UK's most inspirational female scientists. 

According to the UKRC, which organises the event, there were a record number of nominations for this year's awards.
They aim to celebrate organisations and individuals who are actively working to
promote science, engineering and construction to young women.

Women starting out in their career are recognised for an Excellence Award, including Claire Gott, a graduate
structural engineer, and PhD student Samantha Bail.
Female leaders in the industry are nominated for the Advisor Award, like curriculum leader in applied science and mathematics at Wirral Metropolitan College, Heather Aspinwall, and Sonya Chan, director at Robogals UK.

A third prize, the ChampionAward, recognises the work of organisations that promote female opportunities in Stem careers. The Science Council and the Leeds College of Building are just two of the shortlisted firms.

 


Winners will be announced on October 19th at the Institution of Engineering and Technology in London

 

ThoughtWorks
UCL Logo

CITB - Construction Skills launches consultation

 

Industry views are being sought on a range of issues around skills and in particular whether current construction qualifications will meet the needs of employers and learners in the future in a consultation launched today by CITB-ConstructionSkills.

The review of the Construction Qualification Strategy, which was first developed by CITB-ConstructionSkills in 2005, aims to identify whether the current education and training structure will equip learners with the skills needed by employers or whether change is needed.

It follows major changes to the education and training landscape since the strategy was officially adopted in 2007, including the rollout of the Vocational Qualifications Reform Programme and widespread reform of 14 -19 learning and Higher Education Funding. The recent HSE / Pye Tait report into competence has also identified the need to confirm the industry's definition of competence.

In addition, the recession, the increased focus on apprenticeships, the widening skills gap, the UK's green agenda and rapidly advancing technology will all have an impact on future skills needs and could mean changes are needed to the current construction qualifications and delivery methods.

CITB-ConstructionSkills is keen to hear from all areas of the industry, including employers, SMEs, the federations, trade unions, higher and further education institutions, universities, professional institutions and awarding organisations, so we can respond to their future needs.

Nick Gooderson, Head of Education, Training and Qualifications at CITB-ConstructionSkills, said:

"The education and training landscape has altered dramatically since 2005 and coupled with the recession, the widening skills gap, the UK's green agenda and rapidly advancing technology it may be that we need to completely review all construction skills strategy around training and education.

"We want to hear industry's views around what training and qualifications they think will be needed going forward so we can secure the future shape of that provision to better meet their requirements and skills needs of the sector.

"CITB-ConstructionSkills is working to deliver the right skills for economic growth locally and nationally and in the face of this changing landscape we need to ensure that we have fit for purpose qualifications and pathways that meet sector and learner needs.

"We're working on industry's behalf to ensure that industry card schemes are informed about qualifications that can demonstrate competence and that we correctly identify the volume and nature of resources required to support of construction education for every one who needs it within the industry.

"We're committed to bringing new blood into our industry and making businesses succeed and grow and this includes ensuring that the current education and qualification structure can equip learners with the skills needed by employers."

To access the consultation document please visit  the website 

 

 

WES would like to thank all of its sponsors and supporters

and in particular, the IET, Transport for London, National Grid and Arup


 

 IET Logo


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