WOMENG

hi I'm Felipe I'm an associate professor
in civil and infrastructure engineering
other MIT University and I'm one of the
creators of this women's program I just
want to say how much positively
surprised I was today coming in the room
and seeing so many people and I remember
at the time when I was writing this down
as an application to the government I'm
just putting some ideas here and there
and then it all became this wonderful
program so I'm really appreciative about
all the other people and what they're
doing with this and uh I I think it's
going to be great
so I found this experience really
valuable so far it's been great to be
able to network with other women in the
industry I've had a couple of sessions
really with my first mentor and it's
been really valuable being able to hear
from someone with a lot more experience
than me and I look forward to continuing
it's been really fantastic I've met up
with one Mentor who's been really
helping me with networking with other
women as well and been giving me some
really great advice and also talking
about his own personal experiences as
well there were a few key takeaways from
the women's program one of which is
my identity I know my identity very much
better
and it really pushes me to do more in
engineering whether it's in hardcore to
get your head study engineering or in
stakeholder engagement which is what I'm
doing now and really passionate about
but when the opportunity arises you know
that you are all prepared to snap that
because it's a competitive industry if
you are not ready for it you might miss
out on it
as the project coordinator for women's I
really enjoy these past few months
working with Engineers despite not being
an engineer myself I understand that at
this time being a woman in this industry
you would need a lot of support and
anything that I can do to give that
support through these projects I would
be glad to do so initially I thought
there was only Construction in civil
engineering I didn't realize how broad
engineering could really be I found the
entire work experience really engaging
and really fun I liked how we learned
about a variety of engineering a lot of
which I wouldn't have known if I didn't
come here and I felt it I found it all
very beneficial and I was glad I took
part in it I would find the activities
at the Metro tunnel headquarters very
fun and engaging but I'd say my favorite
part was day five with the speaker
having Lara because I could really
relate to her and her career and her
interests after taking part in the
women's work experience I really think
that I could have a potential career in
infrastructure it was really good I
really enjoyed how there was an even mix
of listening to different people and
their careers in engineering and how
they got there and also like doing the
different activities that involves
problem solving and stuff like that one
of the really fun activities we did
there was building the rail track the
fake rail track that was lots of fun I
had wanted to become an engineer I
wanted to pursue it in the future but I
wasn't too sure what it would entail
what career paths there would be and now
I definitely know a lot more about it
well I didn't have much understanding of
what engineering was I came with an open
mind so after this five days I think
that I learned a lot more about it my
favorite part was day two when we got to
go to the Metro tunnels headquarters I
thought it was really interesting
learning about the nine kilometer
tunnels that they were implementing and
all the different train stations because
they all influence and affect us in some
way or another My overall thoughts were
that it was really really beneficial it
was incredible to be a part of it I
think because coming into it I didn't
really know much about engineer hearing
but after these five days I know a lot
more about and the different avenues
that I can take towards my career path I
think that women has helped the female
student involved in the program to
understand more about the industry since
they had the opportunity to visit
construction site and also spend time at
some of the AFA members facilities also
for the other group I think the
discussion that we had at the after
breakfast and also the mentoring
component of the program have given them
the opportunity to grow professionally
and personally while developing also
relationship with in connections with
other women and with their mentors and I
have faced some challenges as well
sometimes I still do and that's why it's
been really important for me to do
something to support other women in the
in the industry and the feedback that
we've received is really good so I'm
very proud the work we've done so far of
course this is just the starting point I
hope that there will be many more
initiatives like this to keep supporting
women and and to inspire the next
generation of leaders