More than 200 high school girls from around NSW attended the UNSW Engineering Girls Day Out at UNSW Sydney.Engineering Girls Day Out

The event, part of the faculty’s Women in Engineering outreach program, aims to inspire girls to consider engineering as a career choice and introduce them to successful role models from the industry.

During the one-day conference, students learnt about the different disciplines of engineering through a number of engaging workshops, keynote speakers and a careers panel. The hands-on activities ranged from a relay drone race to learning about mining operations through virtual reality.

Women in Engineering Manager at UNSW, Sarah Coull, said these events are important as they provide opportunities for young students to get a better understanding of how engineers shape the world we live in.

“We were thrilled to launch UNSW’s first Engineering Girls Day Out with over 200 high school girls on campus for the day, all here to experiencethe many different facets engineering.” said Coull.

“The students attending were from years 9 to 12 and we wanted to provide a really fun and engaging experience during this formative time in their school years, when they are figuring out what they are interested in and making important decisions about future study and careers.”

The students heard from two guest speakers on the day including Ami Pasricha, CEO of Robogals Global and Lucy Armitage, PhD student at UNSW Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering on their journey as engineers and how they’re making real-world impact.

The students also had a taste at solving a real-world engineering problem with industry partner Origin Energy. Origin’s renewable energy themed task challenged teams to design a utility scale solar photovoltaic plant, making it efficient and as low-cost as possible. Some teams were then selected to present their strategies at the pitching challenge.

The group also heard from a panel of female engineers including Sydney Water Project Manager Elline Camilet, Optus Satellite Aerospace Engineer Divya Jindal and Arup Transport Planner Annabel Kerr on the path they followed to become engineers.

The panel encouraged the group not to feel pressured to follow a particular pathway, to keep exploring and trying new things and to always follow their passions, which would enable them to discover the area of engineering they’re interested in.

UNSW Engineering goal is to have 30 per cent of commencing undergraduate students female by 2020.