STEREOTYPES were smashed at Charles Sturt University (CSU) on Friday when 200 girls from across the Central West sat down for a practical lesson in engineering.
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CSU’s engineering building hosted Power of Engineering, an organisation that aims to
promote the industry to young people, with a particular focus on engaging female, regional and indigenous students.
The Bathurst event was the biggest ever for the organisation, with students from 13 high schools across the region participating in the workshops.
Students were split into groups to take part in the hands-on workshops, led by industry professionals, which gave them a practical insight into engineering.
CSU foundation professor of engineering Euan Lindsay said he was pleased so many young women took part in the workshops and he hoped the day would reaffirm the desire each of the girls already had to pursue a career in that industry.
The event would also allow the young women to “see a pathway to engineering from where they are now” by meeting industry professionals who were once in their shoes.
“If you want solutions [to problems] for all of society, it helps to have an engineering cohort that represents all of society,” Professor Lindsay explained.
“We were actively looking for partners who could assist us in increasing the number of women taking up the engineering degree and degrees in general,” he said of getting Power of Engineering to CSU.
CSU Bathurst campus opened its engineering building on February 18 this year for students to undertake the new Bachelor of Technology / Master of Engineering (Civil Systems) degree.
For more information on CSU’s engineering courses visit www.csu.edu.au.