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Set up in 2014 by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES), this national, and now international, awareness day celebrates the achievements of women in engineering and aims to open young women’s eyes to the exciting opportunities that exist in a career in engineering.

In support of International Women in Engineering Day 2017 (INWED17), and to inspire more young women to consider careers in engineering, we have hosted a number of events in the week leading up to INWED on Friday 23 June:

Earlier this week, we welcomed 79 girls from seven Surrey and Hampshire primary and secondary schools to our Farnborough site. They met with our engineers, including female role models, who shared their experiences and real world applications in acoustics, simulation, virtual reality and electron propulsion in our ion engines, used for long distance space travel. They even competed to build the largest and strongest tower structure.

At Portsmouth Academy for Girls, our engineers and STEM Ambassadors helped 35 girls from four Hampshire schools in a practical workshop to design a way of taking products down a mountain, over a river and return building materials back up the mountain.

Today, the official International Women in Engineering Day, girls from Kent College will learn about software engineering and uses for remote operated vehicles with our engineers at Fort Halstead, Sevenoaks. Jointly with Malvern Instruments, a local small business, sixth formers from six Worcestershire schools and Harriett Baldwin MP, Minister for Defence Procurement, will join us at our Malvern site to find out about rewarding careers in engineering. At RAF Waddington, a number of our STEM Ambassadors are supporting an event run by the Royal Air Force. Finally, colleagues at MOD Boscombe Down are hosting a networking event and discussion for our own engineers, as well as representatives from the military, dstl, Boeing and Dyson. The topic of debate at this event will be breaking down engineering stereotypes and considering what we can do to encourage more girls and women into engineering.

With a recognised skills gap and a clear need for many more engineers, it's never been more important to encourage more people, especially girls and women, to choose a career in engineering. We’ve talked to some of our own women engineers from the UK, Canada and Australia to get their stories on what inspired them to get into engineering, their role models and tips for young women interested in engineering.

More stories from our inspirational women engineers: