Girls Shine in our Future Engineers Program

The second week of the Western Australian September school holidays saw 30 lucky girls take part in the inaugural Future Engineers program. Organised by WISE (Women in Subsea Engineering) the program ran over the course of five days and included an absolute treasure trove of experiences for the girls.

Through the support of partners, sponsors and volunteers, the girls spent time at numerous facilities and had visiting experts who gave them a wealth of knowledge and inspired them to consider careers in a STEM field. The information the girls received didn’t stop at technical career based advice. They also spent time developing their public speaking skills, their confidence through body language and their ability to succeed and thrive in what is traditionally a male dominated industry. Of particular value and inspiration was the number of female volunteers generously giving up their time to demonstrate and encourage the next generation of women into oil and gas careers.

The program culminated with an awards and presentation evening on the Friday. All of the girls presented on what they had learned during the week, with much insight, creativity and humour. The expressions on the participant’s faces was electric and their energy for the sector was tangible.

Feedback from the participants, their parents and professionals involved with the program has been outstanding and we hope to run an even bigger program next year. WISE are seeking expressions of interest for program supporters for the 2019 program. If you can help out, please get in touch via our website here.

WISE would like to thank the following people and companies, without whom the program couldn’t have been such a success;

Major Sponsors: WISE, Subsea Energy Australia, BHP and Engineers Australia

Program Partners: Petroleum Club of Western Australia, Scitech, Greenlight Environmental, Atteris, CSA Oceans, NEXXIS, TechnipFMC, BHP, Schlumberger, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre (IOMRC), NGI, Genesis, Pressure Dynamics, IFAP, ACA Foundation, Woodside, Sonomatic, Vertech and CORE Innovation Hub

Volunteers: Allison Selman, Yan Mei Ng, Lina Velosa, Mhairi Glover, Rodney Silberstein, Tjedza Masola, Bruna Rocha, Sarah Watson, Polly Mahaptra, Lucy Henderson, Jess Silva, Steve Fogarty, Petrina Raitt, Sarah Watson, Krista Lewis, Ashlin McCamish, Alex Gravestock, Andrew Angus, Anna Cresswell, Armity Saljooghi, Brian Guest, Ci Wang, Claudia Ku, Christina Cantillo, Dann Marian, Dilupa Konara, Evelene Raj, Gail Milne, Himasha Walgama, Hoda Ehsani, Jarren Asquith, Julie Morgan, Katerina Lepkova, Katherine Cure, Katherine Lundy, Kirsty Freeman, Laura Machuca Suarez, Luke Ellery, Madeline Brick, Madeline Hardy, Madeline Hermawan, Maegan Tan, Mahinder Nayar, Marcus Sasson, Mark Williams, Mia Savic, Michael Blackburn, Nicole Fiumana, Noel Boylan, Paul Henderson, Petrina Raitt, Ruth Thomas, Rebecca Murphy, Sarah Harloe, Shiao Huey Chow, Stefanie Sala, Thunyaluk (Kod) Pojtanabuntoeng, Tina Turner, Tina Zhang, Wendy Mitchell

Organised by WISE Committee Members Allison Selman, Chien Foo, Evelene Raj, Yan Mei Ng

Support of Engineers Australia WA Division and Subsea Energy Australia Staff

Wavemakers – We #Press for Progress

In March this year, on International Women’s Day, Women in Subsea Engineering (WISE) officially launched the Wavemakers Program. Our aim is to deliver role models to inspire girls to pursue STEM subjects, and ultimately consider a career in the subsea industry.

Watch short video of International Women’s Day Wavemakers Launch.

Watch long video of International Women’s Day Wavemakers Launch (with speeches).

Our Wavemakers have all had career success via STEM in Subsea careers and are actively championing this as a career path.

Our aim is for gender parity in our industry, however we also know that there is a decline in girls studying STEM subjects. As the mantra says, ‘you can’t be what you can’t see (Marian Wright Edelman)’, so the Wavemakers campaign is working to raise visibility where ever possible, and particularly in schools.

Our Wavemaker comic book tells the stories of these 12 women, demonstrating real life scenarios with real subsea technologies. If you’re interested in a copy of this book, you can pre-order here, and at the same time you’ll be donating an additional copy to an Australian school library to help inspire Wavemakers of the future to continue to #PressforProgress.

International Women in Engineering Day, 23 June 2018

This Saturday is one to celebrate for WISE! Under the patronage of UNESCO, the Women’s Engineering Society are campaigning to raise the profile of women in engineering with the International Women in Engineering Day. This year’s theme is ‘Raising the Bar’.

Our WISE Wavemakers continue to raise the bar, you can check out their inspirational stories here. The Wavemaker Career Comic Book will soon be available and have been designed to encourage children aged 7-11 to find out more about our industry. Each story depicts a real female character using real scenarios and real subsea technologies. You can pre-order here, and at the same time you’ll be donating an additional copy to an Australian school library to help inspire Wavemakers of the future to continue ‘Raising the Bar’.