Increasing the numbers of students choosing STEM courses means there will be a steady flow of qualified graduates with the skills needed for tech roles
Speakers and representatives from 30 companies showcased technology careers to young women this International Women’s Day in Waterford.
Hundreds of second-level students from across the south east region – Gorey, Enniscorthy, Fermoy, Kilkenny, Carrick-on-Suir, Waterford city attended the Women in Technology event on International Women’s Day 2018 at the WIT Arena which has been organised by lecturing staff in physics, engineering, architecture and computing disciplines at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT).
Women working in a variety of technology roles took to the stage at the WIT Arena on International Women’s Day to tell the story of their own career paths and to help show young women how varied and exciting careers in technology are.
Maria Cahill, a lecturer in the Department of Computing and Maths, says that the event was designed to help young women discover that there is more to the world of technology than programming and will highlight a wide variety of career paths and roles in the world of technology.
“The Women in Technology event taking place in Waterford’s WIT Arena aims to provide inspiration and encouragement to all those who would aspire to take a similar route – and those who have yet to discover their future path may lie in technology,” she says.
The keynote speaker ws Regina Moran, CEO Fujitsu UK and Ireland, a graduate of WIT. The speaker list includes representatives from Intel, Boston Scientific (Mairead Tarrent), Bausch & Lomb, Red Hat (Brid Mackey), Whitfield Clinic (Amanda Barry), Se2 (Claire Kelly), E Project Chartered Architects (Ellen Nugent), Institute of Physics (Sheila Gilheany), Penneys to Prada (Emer Rutherford), Sun Life Financial (Margaret Carroll), HEAnet (CEO Kerrie Power), Winthrop Engineering (Clodagh Dunphy), and DHB Architects (Maire Henry).
Organisations with a presence at the event included: Amazon Web Services, SE2, SunLife, UPMC Whitfield Cancer Centre, VHI, Sanofi Waterford, Red Hat, GradIreland, Distilled SCH, Dataworks Ltd, Institute of Physics, Engineers Ireland South East, Boston Scientific, Servier Ireland, Stryker, EPA, SEAM, Eishtec, Oracle, Bausch & Lomb, GSK, West Pharmaeutical Products, Crystal Valley Tech, Intel, Nemeton TV, Errigal.
“We are delighted to have the support of industry for this event, which will help teenagers understand that there’s a range of well-paid careers they may not have yet explored out there. Increasing the numbers of students choosing science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) courses means that there will be a steady flow of qualified graduates with the skills the tech industry and companies employing people in tech roles will need in the future,” she adds.
For full information visit www.wit.ie/womenintechnology.
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