I.O.T: International Women in Engineering Day

Pupils from St Peter and St Paul's Catholic Voluntary Academy and John Spendluffe Technology College, took part in the event.

They were introduced to the Lincoln College Institute of Technology training pathways in hybrid and electric vehicle design, software and app development, robotics and the internet of things.

They also took part in a Q&A session with guest speaker Linda McLean, a Flight Test Engineer in the RAF and Super League Rugby player for Bradford Bulls.

Teacher Andy Challenger, of St Peter and St Paul's Catholic Voluntary Academy, who attended the event at Lincoln College, said days like this helped pupils discover more about different subjects and careers open to them.

“What we’re trying to do is increase our students’ knowledge of different career zones, so that the choices they make are then informed ones. These girls have expressed an interest in engineering so we’re trying to delve down deep into what this actually means, what engineering is and get some practical experience we can’t get on our campus, to then inform that decision about whether this could be a future pathway for them.”

Casey Porter, who is a pupil at St Peter and St Paul's Catholic Voluntary Academy, said the day was a great experience.

“It’s been really good and it’s been a really useful opportunity to learn more,” she said.

After lunch, pupils were able to learn more about the engineering courses on offer at Lincoln College, which included a closer look at Production Automation and Robotics.

The day ended with the Q&A session with RAF Flight Test Engineer, Linda McLean.

“Hopefully today has given these students a different view of what’s out there, because when I was at school hardly anyone came in to speak, it was just the teacher telling you that you can do these things, but unless you actually speak to somebody who does the job, I don’t think you get an appreciation for what they do,” said Linda.

“I had one particular role model I think when I was younger and that was one of the reasons I wanted to be an engineer and even if just one person goes away today and looks at engineering in some great detail, then I’ve done something today to encourage them to do it, because it’s not all car mechanics or pneumatics – there’s so much more such as software engineering and coding.”

Head of Learning and Skills for Engineering and Technology at Lincoln College Ross Tarnowski, thanked everyone involved in the event.

“It was a fantastic event and really well organised by my team,” he said. “It was great to have a group of young women who were so infused about engineering as a whole. Linda McLean gave a superb presentation at the end of the event, which really did showcase International Women in Engineering Day. 

“If we can attract just a fraction of these young women into the engineering industry and its many diverse job roles, then hosting today will have been an even better success.”

You can find out more about our range of engineering courses here