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INWED 2020: How SWE Members Are Helping #ShapeTheWorld

Happy International Women in Engineering Day, SWEsters! This year, we wanted to highlight members across the globe and what they're doing to help #ShapeTheWorld around them.
Inwed 2020: How Swe Members Are Helping #shapetheworld
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This International Women in Engineering Day (INWED 2020), we asked our SWEsters across the globe how they’re helping #ShapeTheWorld and their local communities through outreach events, infrastructure enhancements, and environmental improvements. Here are their responses.

Inwed 2020: How Swe Members Are Helping #shapetheworld

Name: Chukwu Stella

SWE title: Member

Location: Abuja/ FCT/ Nigeria

Job title: Air Traffic Engineer, Unit: Communication

Discipline: Electrical/Electronic Engineering

What are you (or company) doing to create a better world for the future?

Safer skies are our top priority. We advocate for high standards in the aviation sector and offer professional advice in the procurement of safety electronic equipment in order to maintain the safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic, ensuring there is minimal or zero mishap in the airspace. Through the Global Air Navigation plan (GANP), we help airlines reduce their emission and fuel use contributing to cleaner energy in the aviation business.

Name: Vera Egwuatu | Abuja, FCT, Nigeria 

SWE Affiliate President & Global Ambassador

Discipline: Civil Engineer

How is your work helping solve an issue that is specific to your immediate
surroundings (geography, pollution, infrastructure, etc.)?

I work with the Department of Engineering Services of the the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The Department of Engineering Services is one of the technical departments charged with the responsibility of providing engineering infrastructure and services in the FCT. The mission statement of the department therefore is to provide functional, efficient and cost-effective engineering infrastructural services in the Federal Capital City (FCC).

Movement is a very important factor in any community. The economy of a people needs reliable infrastructure to connect supply chains and efficiently move goods and services. Provision of necessary infrastructure connects people living in a community, so for my immediate surroundings, the provision of a good road network has offered opportunities for employment, and access to healthcare and education. 

Provision of clean energy and public transit has reduced greenhouse gases, thereby reducing pollution of our immediate surroundings.

Name: Anthea Elameyi O. Udo | Abuja, FCT, Nigeria 

SWE Nigeria Affiliate Chairperson & Global Ambassador

Discipline: Irrigation/Soil & Water Engineer

How is your work helping solve an issue that is specific to your immediate
surroundings (geography, pollution, infrastructure, etc.)?

Anthea Elameyi O. UdoI’m an Irrigation Engineer and a Nigerian. I never dreamt of becoming an engineer and finally earned my Master’s of Engineering from University of Agriculture Makurdi, despite all daunting challenges. I have travelled far and wide for training, one of which is the Annenberg School of Communication in Southern California.

My employer, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, through the Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING)—a counterpart funding the project with the World Bank—is rehabilitating dams and irrigation infrastructure to boost agricultural production in Nigeria.

Inwed 2020: How Swe Members Are Helping #shapetheworld

Name: Hainan Zeng | China

SWE Member

Job title: Engineer

What are you (or your company) doing to create a better world for the future?

Cummins is very passionate about making the world a better place. We actively promote the idea of recycling and implement recycling in our production and facilities to save resources to help protect the planet. In my role as a Technical Project Leader, I pay close attention to water and paper conservation in our work. Cummins is also deeply connected to the community and provides activities for students and disabled (or differently-abled) individuals, providing them with help and/or care. I actively attend these activities to provide safety/environmental protection-related classes to students, and I go to the Disabilities Protection Agency to participate in activities and games that help with physical and mental health. Cummins cooperates with other groups for environmental protection activities to build a cleaner world. I attend these environmental protection activities to contribute by cleaning up the cyanobacteria in nearby lakes, picking up garbage, and so on.

Inwed 2020: How Swe Members Are Helping #shapetheworld

Inwed 2020: How Swe Members Are Helping #shapetheworld

Maryam Tse | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

SWE Ottawa Affiliate, Finance Officer

Type of Engineer or Scientist: Electrical Engineer

How is your work helping solve an issue that is specific to your immediate
surroundings (geography, pollution, infrastructure, etc.)?

Inwed 2020: How Swe Members Are Helping #shapetheworldI work for Ciena, a company that provides telecommunication network infrastructure. We build infrastructure that increases internet speeds using less equipment, lower operating costs, and lower power consumption. The most visible application of this infrastructure is enabling high-speed internet delivery to the home, which has become a front-and-center essential necessity as masses of employees work remotely. Other networking applications include Distance Learning and Tele-Health. Long before COVID-19 shutdowns, Ciena provided networks enabling healthcare professionals to make split-second decisions and access medical history in real-time. In Research & Education, our networks carry petabytes of data per minute both nationally and across the world. In Finance, we provide low latency, highly secure transport of sensitive data.

Inwed 2020: How Swe Members Are Helping #shapetheworld

Adriele Alves Rocha | Catalao, Goias, Brazil

SWE Global Ambassador

Type of Engineer or Scientist: Mechatronics Engineer

How have you (or your company) encouraged more girls and young women to take an interest in STEM/see STEM as an exciting and rewarding career path?

When we look around in our society, we see that women are extremely unrepresented in leadership. It is very interesting that I have always noticed that but I never took note of that. 

Adriele Alves Rocha with group of young engineering students in BrazilThis was before the Society of Women Engineers became part of my day to day work. I wisely took time to watch the courses on the SWE’s Advance Learning Center platform. SWE showed me to do hard work on myself and always strive for continuous improvement, encouraging me to have an ambitious mind and never settle… if that is what I want.

Ignited with this energy, I presented to the SWE team at John Deere the proposal to create female groups, with our support, at universities around the region. The project has a goal to help develop the sense of leadership in young women and to reduce the gap of mindset between males and females in STEM. One of the universities is more than 60 years old, has 12 engineering courses, and with the support of our project, they now have the first female engineering group in the university’s history. I am very proud to be part of that, and I am very excited to see the positive impact that we as SWE will make in the future of so many young girls.

Inwed 2020: How Swe Members Are Helping #shapetheworld

Katrina Simpson | Aachen, NRW, Germany

SWE Global Ambassador

Type of Engineer or Scientist: Electrical Engineer
What are you (or your company) doing to create a better world for the future?

I work as an electrical engineer at INNIO Jenbacher GmbH, a supplier of reciprocating engines, and I help design power stations around the world. The most exciting part of this work right now is how it works to better the future. These engines come in a variety of sizes and fuel types, making them flexible for use in microgrids and expanding the use of biogas and other sustainable fuels. We are always looking for more sustainable/environmentally friendly methods, such as the Jenbacher Remanufacturing Program which gives engines a longer lifespan with a smaller environmental footprint than installing a new engine. My favorite use of our engines is with greenhouses. We are able to use gases released from decomposing plant matter to generate power, use the heat from our engine cooling process to heat the greenhouse if necessary and use some of our emissions to fertilize the plants. I see applications like these being critical in ensuring that the world has sustainable and flexible methods to feed the world’s growing power needs.

Andra Patricia Groapa | Cambridge, United Kingdom

SWE Advisory Board Member

Type of Engineer or Scientist: Simulation (CFD) Engineer
What are you (or your company) doing to create a better world for the future?

From manufacturing equipment to contributing to the global economy, Caterpillar works to support many areas of development. The company’s employees do an amazing job driving positive change and sustainable progress on every continent.

While our U.S. EPA Tier 4 Final solution is designed to deliver a significant reduction in environmental impact over the lifetime of the product, that’s not enough. The end goal in some cases is to find ways to generate near zero lifecycle emissions whilst meeting customer needs for increasing power density. Our products include electrified offerings. By electrification, we mean “augmenting a machine, product or system to operate using electricity when it did not before.”

We are currently working on a range of products that vary between fully electric, diesel-electric hybrid and more conventional diesel-powered machines. As a CFD engineer, I have the opportunity to work on some of these machines, by performing air flow analysis under the hood, and assessing the performance and heat distribution on an ‘electrified’ layout.

This is such an exciting opportunity for me and for the rest of Caterpillar. We have the chance to take part, first-hand, in sustainable progress and innovation.

While some days it might be difficult to recognise your contribution in the world, I hope my post reminded you that we’re all playing an important part in something bigger. We are the pieces of the puzzle that make it complete. I am proud of all engineers who work on technology and innovations that make our world a better place.

Inwed 2020: How Swe Members Are Helping #shapetheworld

Thanaletchumy Venagobal | Victoria, Australia

SWE Member

Type of Engineer or Scientist: Software Engineer

How is your work helping solve an issue that is specific to your immediate
surroundings (geography, pollution, infrastructure, etc.)?

Inwed 2020: How Swe Members Are Helping #shapetheworldI work in the Melbourne Design Center of Motorola Solutions. I am blessed to be given the opportunity to work as a software solutions capability engineer, providing purposeful value to the society. I am part of the engineering team building Mobile Application for the public safety government agencies. Our solutions connect people through technology. Public safety and commercial customers around the world turn to Motorola Solutions innovations when they want highly connected teams that have the information they need throughout their workdays and in the moments that matter most to them. Our customers rely on us for the expertise, services and solutions we provide, trusting our years of invention and innovation experience.

Adiba Khan | Carlton, VIC, Australia

SWE Member

Type of Engineer or Scientist: Electrical Engineer

What are you (or your company) doing to create a better world for the future?

In today’s world, climate change poses one of the biggest threats to mankind where buildings are major contributors. They are responsible for nearly 40% of the global energy used. As an electrical engineer working in the building systems design industry, it is imperative I take into consideration the long-term impact our building projects may have on society. Globally, there are nearly 500 net-zero energy buildings of which 103 are currently designed by Integral Group. As part of a leading engineering consultancy, I strongly believe it is critical we deliver environmentally sound electrical engineering solutions by designing and incorporating energy-efficient lighting and power systems. Being a proud employee of Integral Group, whose mission is Deep Green Engineering, we strive to create a better world by using sustainable designs and working on net-zero energy projects.

Happy INWED 2020 to all the women helping #ShapeTheWorld!

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