Latest news with #SONI
Belfast Telegraph
24-06-2025
- Science
- Belfast Telegraph
More than 100 schoolgirls build 13m bridge at W5 in hands on initiative to connect females with STEM
The interactive science hub in Belfast hosted the inspirational initiative in collaboration with The Big Bridge, Design ID, and System Operator for NI (SONI) at the end of last week. The pupils, all aged between 11 and 13 gathered at the Odyssey venue to take part in the hands-on, interactive travelling event that aims to ignite the spark of curiosity and instill confidence and ambition in the next generation of female creators. Amy Dillion, project director at The Big Bridge and principal engineer at Design ID said she is proud to introduce young girls to the world of engineering. "This event is about connecting female students with real engineers and showcasing the impact they can have on the world," she said. "We are hoping to build a future that is more diverse, and celebrating International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) is a powerful way to recognise the fantastic talent we have in Northern Ireland.' Spirit of Northern Ireland Awards 2025: A look behind the scenes INWED takes place annually on June 23 to shine a spotlight on the vital role women play in engineering and technology industries that remain significantly dominated by males with just 11% of women counted among the workforce in NI. There is a growing movement to change that statistic with increasing opportunities for girls to gain hands-on experience, mentorship, and meaningful exposure to female role models within STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths). Elaine Steele, who heads up learning and engagement at W5, is passionate about promoting the fact that 'STEM is for everyone' and hailed the event as a depiction of what is possible when educators, industry, and engineers come together. "We're literally and figuratively building bridges by giving females the opportunity to explore engineering first-hand and connect with women thriving in the field,' she added. 'Events like this are crucial for helping young women realise that they belong in STEM.' The ambitious project created an educational experience that blended real-world engineering, career insight, and inspirational mentorship in a supportive environment. Emma Morris, director of operations at SONI – the electricity transmission system operator for NI – said she is proud to be involved in creating change. 'We are passionate about helping to develop the talent of the future and encourage young people, particularly women, into STEM careers, she said. 'Events like this are crucial as they help to show young people that engineering is an exciting, creative, and innovative career choice. "It was great to see that so many pupils headed to W5, and we hope this event inspired them to consider a career in engineering.'
BBC News
19-03-2025
- Science
- BBC News
STEM careers: How the industry is tackling its gender gap
It is literally Emma Morris' job to keep the lights across Northern Ireland director of operations for SONI, Northern Ireland's electricity grid operator, she oversees the electricity she wants more young women to follow in her Morris is one of the few women in leadership positions in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in Northern Ireland. According to the Department for the Economy's (DfE) women in STEM taskforce, only one in five STEM jobs are filled by Morris took A-levels in maths, physics and chemistry before studying electrical and electronic engineering at Queen's University Belfast (QUB)."We've made real progress in recent years but it's still very much a male dominated profession," she told BBC News said at QUB, while there were "around 120 people in my class, four of us were girls". Gender gap in STEM But the "gender gap" between girls and boys studying STEM subjects starts earlier, at 2024, while maths and physics were among the most popular subjects studied at A-level by boys they were not in the top five most popular subjects taken by girls. During Engineers Week, which took place earlier in March, Emma Morris and SONI hosted pupils from Lagan College in Belfast with the aim of encouraging young women to pursue STEM careers."There maybe is that perception, traditionally, that engineering in particular, and other STEM subjects, are more male-oriented careers," Emma Morris said."Engineering is about so much more than that, and I don't know why females don't flock to the STEM subjects." Women in engineering Civil engineer Clare Morris also came to SONI to meet the is an associate director at a large civil engineering consultancy in Belfast called McAdam helped to create Engineers Week to raise awareness of careers in engineering."We've engaged over 2,000 children across Northern Ireland this year in the roles of engineering, in hands-on activities," she said. Clare Morris recognised what she described as "the disparity" between men and women studying engineering when she was one of only seven women in a class of over 150 studying civil engineering at university."Whilst the number of women in engineering is increasing, it's not increasing at a rate where we're seeing it reflected in those graduate or middle management or senior management roles," she Morris said that stereotypes around engineering and other STEM careers needed to be tackled."There's that misconception that engineering is about physical labour, hard hats, muddy boots and construction," she said."When really at the core of engineering it's about communication, creativity, innovation and teamwork." Future careers The message was certainly getting through to Lagan College pupils Lauren and Eva, who are studying STEM subjects."In the past they've been very known to be boys' subjects or subjects that boys predominantly would have done," Lauren told BBC News NI."Knowing that not many girls do it or thinking 'am I going to be the only girl in the class?' would make you not want to go on to study it."But Lauren is now looking at a future career as an engineer."Once women and girls start coming in then other younger girls will feel more confident."That's how it will grow." Eva, meanwhile, is considering mechanical or electrical engineering as a future career."Men and women, obviously their brain power is basically the same so I think more women should definitely be encouraged to go into more STEM subjects," she said."You should really just follow what you are best at, so if you think that you are going to be good at those subjects you should definitely go for it and shouldn't worry about what other people are going to think or say."For SONI's Emma Morris, it is about getting girls interested in STEM at a young age."It's really about getting to people when they're young, and trying to do away with the stereotypes, you know, that this is for men," she said."Because it's not."
