On the 1st of September, ZONTA District 24 hosted the annual Women in Engineering Sydney Breakfast to award a female student studying either Engineering or IT with the Breakfast Club of Sydney Award. This award was established in 2003 to provide financial support to a female student enrolled in engineering as a discipline that is non-traditional for women. The award supports one of the key objectives of Zonta International - to improve the economic and educational status of women around the world.
A beautiful breakfast was provided as the guests overlooked the construction of Barangaroo from Westpac Place. Bronwyn Holland (WiE&IT coordinator), Drenka Andjelic (Construction Assignments & One of the Guys Mentor) and Louella Yu, winner of the Zonta Award in 2008 were all present. The breakfast began with acting head of Zonta, Rebecca Glen, welcoming the 40 guests to the event before we had the chance to hear from Mehreen Faruqi, a structural engineer and member of NSW parliament. Mehreen shared her passion for STEM careers and encouraged the students to consider their values and what they can bring to the table. She marvelled at feats of engineering such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the impact that engineering & IT can have. She stated "Feel the fear, and do it anyway. When an opportunity comes, take it.", inspiring the audience to make the most of their own opportunities.
The applications were of such high standard this year, that Zonta decided that two winners were deserving of the Breakfast Club of Sydney Award! Emily Crozier (Bachelor of Civil Engineering & Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation) and Irene Hsieh (Bachelor of Bio-medical Engineering & Medical Science) were both presented with the award at the breakfast.
Emily is a second year student and is an activate FEIT volunteer for the Women in Engineering & IT team at UTS. She is a regular activity leader and speaker at various events and is passionate about giving younger women, particularly in schools, the opportunity to learn about engineering and the opportunities it holds. She addressed this in a short 3 minute speech where she spoke about confidence being the most important factor in encouraging girls into STEM fields.
Irene is also a second year student and a keen member of the UTS community. She spoke about the barriers female engineers can face when telling people that they are in fact engineers! The steps were; surprise, confusion, acceptance and finally admiration. Her speech reflected the need for women to enter these fields in order to strengthen and grow the area.
Madeline Collins and Antenet Outschoorn were also given High Commendations on the strength of their applications.
It was an outstanding breakfast put on by Zonta, and everyone present agreed on the high caliber present in the applications for this years award. We would like to officially thank Zonta once again, and congratulations to Irene and Emily!