August 2009

2009 saw the launch of GirlEng, a new chapter of SAWomEng aimed at encouraging high-potential maths and science students to pursue a career in engineering. GirlEng hosted 5 one-day workshops across South Africa in Gauteng, Western Cape, Kwazulu Natal, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape.

Each event was attended by 60 high school students in Grades 10 to 12 selected from a range of schools in the surrounding areas. The GirlEng workshops scoped in on two of the 5 founding pillars of SAWomEng: Igniting the engineering flame and Mentorship.

At the GirlEng workshops, young and enthusiastic learners were informed about the fascinating world of engineering and given real world examples of remarkable engineering projects. The delegates were captivated by talks from inspiring engineers both in the academic and professional arenas.

The engineering flame was kept burning during the career’s fair that was held as part of the workshop. Representatives from our sponsoring companies informed and enthralled learners about the various opportunities for engineering professionals and more importantly about the study aids (bursaries and scholarships) available to learners wanting to pursue engineering studies. University career’s representatives informed the delegates about the entrance requirements and the details of the application processes at tertiary institutions around the country.

The GirlEng workshops also provided the learners with an opportunity to get a taste of engineering challenges in the form of an engineering based Technical Project ranging from building structures from straws to designing balloon propelled model cars. The projects kept the delegates excited and forced them to think out-of-the-box to come up with novel ideas. Guided by their mentors and using their young innovative minds, the delegates produced exceptional results already showing signs of promising careers in the engineering field.

In addition to all the information provided at the workshop, the delegates were allocated Mentors to help guide them on this journey into the world of Engineering. The role of the mentors extends beyond the workshop to motivate, encourage and assist those learners wishing to pursue a career in engineering after the completion of their secondary education.

All in all, the debut run of GirlEng workshops proved to be a whopping success and with this has set GirlEng well on it way to continue encouraging young female learners to pursue a career into the fascinating world of Engineering.