19th June 2023
We celebrate women in engineering every day!
As we approach International Women in Engineering Day on June 23rd, we’re very excited to be running our fantastic virtual Primary Glider Challenge in which we will see primary schools across the UK come together to see who can design and construct the best glider that can travel the furthest in the air.
This event is kindly supported by UK's leading aerospace company, Leonardo, who are also partnering with us later this summer for our Girls into Engineering residential course at Loughborough University, alongside healthcare technology innovators, GE HealthCare.
This three-day residential brings talented, young females between the ages of 12 and 14 together, who aspire to be the next generation of future engineers. During the course, female students get the opportunity to learn more about the world of engineering through engaging practical projects, plus gain valuable insight from leading industry professionals from both Leonardo and GE HealthCare.
Here at the Smallpeice Trust, one of our biggest challenges is to encourage and inspire more young females into pursuing a career within STEM. Females in the UK engineering sector are currently underrepresented, and we aim to fill all our courses with an equal 50/50 split of females and males.
One of our many female students who followed the path to a career in engineering is Lequesha Gonsalves, from Manchester. She was awarded one of our prestigious Arkwright Scholarships, with the support of Cardiff University.
“I have always loved making things and I was assisting at an open day event at my school and was actively encourage, by my DT teacher, to apply for The Arkwright Engineering Scholarship. It was possibly one of the best decisions I could have made, and my teacher was one of my biggest supporters", she said.
"Maybe one day with all the knowledge and information I have gathered, I might be able to start my own business. It is always good to have big dreams and large goals because I truly believe it makes you work harder," she added.
Our engineering summer schools enable students to fuel their passion for STEM subjects. These multi-day courses give an insight into life beyond the classroom and introduce students to industry leaders and get young people with similar interests working together on hands-on projects.
There are still paid places available on some of these courses, please visit smallpeicetrust.org.uk for more details.