Inspiring more women to be engineers

Queen Mary is committed to encouraging more girls to study engineering, and we organise initiatives throughout the year to engage young students.

Schools in the Science and Engineering Faculty hold several events for students, including those who identify as female or non-binary. One takes place on Women in Engineering Day, and we have an upcoming Girls into Tech event on 5^th July for female-identifying students in Years 11-12. There are also scholarships to enable underrepresented groups including women to study Advanced Robotics.  

Queen Mary is currently ahead of the sector, with approximately one out of three undergraduate students who are enrolled in engineering and technology programmes being female. 

We're also proud that Queen Mary successfully retained its Institutional Athena Swan Silver Award, in recognition of the University’s commitment to advancing gender equality. The School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) and the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science (ECCS) were both awarded the Athena Swan Bronze Award for supporting women's careers in technology and engineering. 

Here are some of the women engineers making a difference for the Queen Mary community: 

• Prof Hazel Screen, first female Head of School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) 
• Dr Tina Chowdhury, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Director (SEMS) 
• Dr Mona Jaber, Lecturer on the Internet of Things (EECS) 
• Hanya Tamer Ahmed, PhD student (EECS) 
• Ji Young Yoon, Technical Facilities Manager (SEMS) 

Professor Hazel Screen 

“When I was studying for my engineering degree, I was one of five girls in a class of 130 students. I am so glad that this is slowly changing with initiatives to bring more young women into engineering subjects.” – Professor Hazel Screen, First Female Head of School of Engineering and Materials Science. 

Hazel’s research is focused on understanding how tissues are built to withstand pressure in the body, and what causes injury. Her latest published paper explores how ageing impacts tendon cells and how these changes might drive injury. These findings help us identify how we should tackle developing new treatments for tendon disease. 

Dr Tina Chowdhury 

“If we are going to change the perceptions in engineering, then we need to show the real lives of who we are and where our journey is going. I am privileged to be working with a talented community who influenced me in a positive way since my student days. Young people today need role models they can trust, and help build a community together. On Women in Engineering Day, we are celebrating the women of today and tomorrow who are ready to take risks, be innovative and are truly inspiring.” – Dr Tina Chowdhury, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Director of the School of Engineering and Materials Science. 

Tina leads research in regenerative medicine which aims to identify therapeutics that slow down inflammation and repair tissues in a variety of models. Her research includes working with patients who have undertaken knee replacement surgery, successfully identifying new molecules and mechanisms that cause inflammation and disease. 

Dr Mona Jaber 

“As an engineer, I am a member of several groups including the IEEE Women in Engineering in the UK and Ireland that are supporting women’s careers in tech, and as a lecturer I hope to be able to inspire more young girls to study engineering. Diversity gain is a fundamental concept in communication, and a key enabler for our mobile phone’s very high data rates. Similarly, I believe that the gains of diversity are essential for achieving highly innovative and sustainable engineering. These gains are obtained through fostering a diverse engineering cohort who will jointly design a sustainable future.” – Dr Mona Jaber, Lecturer on the Internet of Things (EECS).  

Mona is a leading expert on the Internet of Things (IoT) and her current work examines the intersection between IoT and machine learning as an enabling technology for ushering in sustainable development goals, including intelligent transportation, responsible energy consumption, and privacy-preserving intelligent stress monitoring systems. Her most recent work is on IoT and machine learning for enabling sustainable development goals.  

Hanya Tamer Ahmed 

“I was always curious about how things worked as a kid, and engineering lets me apply that curiosity to solve issues and enhance people's lives. Being in a field that is largely male-dominated is not always easy, but with a commitment to mutual respect, perseverance, and empowering partnerships, we are all working to ensure that there are more women in engineering in the future. It is also gratifying to hear that you are motivating young ladies, such as students in the same way that I was motivated to set greater and more ambitious goals by Senior Lecturer, Dr Qianni Zhang (EECS).” – Hanya Tamer Ahmed, PhD Student in the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science.  

Hanya’s research aims to optimise medical imaging, specifically Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). With the use of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) she’s working on registering, reconstructing and detecting medical faults such as tooth decay in dentistry that can later be applied to other specialties such as cardiology, ophthalmology, and dermatology. 

Apart from world leading researchers and academics there are also incredible women engineers who are part of the technical services team.  

Ji Young Yoon  

‘The technical services team plays a pivotal role in ensuring smooth operation of school facilities to support teaching and research. My team plays a crucial role in ensuring compliance with local and statutory health and safety policies and procedures. While health and safety are everyone’s responsibility, my team has a significant responsibility in safeguarding the well-being of all individuals in the workplace. Without the valuable input of my team, the successful execution of teaching delivery and research activities would not be possible.’ Technical Facilities Manager Ji Young Yoon said.  

Ji and her team are responsible for all the labs and workshops in the School of Engineering and Material Science (SEMS). They provide expert support and guidance to ensure teaching and research activities are conducted while upholding high standards of health and safety.  

 

You can also find out more about the work of Dr Caroline Roney, lecturer in Computational Medicine in our School of Engineering and Materials Science, as part of our Research Highways campaign.