Recently our Year 10 cohort was lucky enough to have a visit from the University of Queensland who presented “Making an Impact”, a presentation about career paths in engineering and all the possibilities an engineering degree holds. The presentation was led by two Women in Engineering Student Leaders, Lizzy, and Zara, who currently study at UQ. Zara studies a dual Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in civil engineering with a Bachelor of Science and Lizzy studies a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) majoring in geotechnical and civil engineering. They shared some information about what it is like attending UQ and told us about their experiences studying in the engineering field. They want to be able to provide female engineering students with the support and encouragement necessary for them to have a successful and enjoyable university experience and career.
We were also visited by Rebecca Harvey, a guest speaker from Energy Queensland to talk about her engineering journey. She is a Girls Grammar Old Girl and attended as a day girl. Within the energy Queensland group, she is a Lead Engineer, and she and her team are in control of the Rockhampton area. She works at Ergon Energy as a Network Operations Engineer and was educated at the University of Southern Queensland and TAFE Queensland. In her presentation, she told us about some troubles she faced as a female in a leadership position and how she overcame them.
Overall, I believe it was an enlightening experience for our whole grade including those who weren’t interested in engineering. The girls gave insight into what it looks like to study engineering and how a career in engineering could look. They made sure to ask questions to keep us involved and kept our minds going. They had great answers to our questions and made sure that each girl left the room with a basic understanding of what engineering is.
Bethany Dey
Year 10 Student