Since our partnership with the University of Western Australia's Girls in Engineering Program commenced in 2018, we have been actively involved in supporting the inspiring initiative that encourages and motivates young girls to pursue careers in STEM.
In May, a group of current engineering students from the Girls in Engineering team travelled to Port Hedland to share their insights on STEM pathways with regional high school students. As part of the trip, the girls also had the opportunity to visit the Monadelphous workshop, where they engaged with our local employees and learned about the realities of living and working in the Pilbara.
During their visit, the girls were taken on a site tour of one of our ongoing projects and participated in a welding workshop, where they skilfully welded the letters "GIE" as a memento to take back with them.
The hands-on welding workshop was a particularly memorable experience as they gained valuable practical knowledge. One student shared her feedback, saying:
"My favourite experience was pushing myself out of my comfort zone during the workshop and I thank the Monadelphous team for encouraging me to have a go. It was incredibly rewarding to overcome those challenges and witness the tangible results of my efforts."
Another student was able to relate her university studies to the experience, stating, "Currently, I am studying materials processing at university, so it's really cool to see how these processes are applied in real-life situations on an actual site."
Professor Tim Sercombe, the Dean and Head of UWA's School of Engineering, expressed pride in the industry connections and highlighted the effectiveness of the Girls in Engineering outreach program as a testament to this collaboration.
"We are committed to continuing our work with our invaluable industry partners to promote inclusion and equality in engineering," Tim said.
Our partnership with Girls in Engineering has facilitated similar experiences in the past, including a tour in the South West earlier this year and another scheduled for Karratha in June.