Paving the way for more women in engineering

Meet Katrina Leung - a Bachelor of Engineering student at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and recipient of the Women in Engineering and Information Technology (IT) Cooperative scholarship sponsored by Thales. 

For Katrina, the possibility of a career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) began when she chose Information and Software Technology as an elective subject in Year 9. From there, Katrina learned Python programming, tried her hand at HTML and CSS and then applied these skills to design a website centring around a passion of hers; volleyball. This success and progress inspired Katrina to establish a coding club at her school, which gradually evolved into a STEM club where she started experimenting with robotics kits; something that carried her to thinking of engineering as a potential career pathway. 

Fast forward to the beginning of Year 12 and Katrina decided to apply for a UTS Women in Engineering and IT scholarship. The WiEIT Co-op Scholarship is a cooperative education program between the University and sponsoring organisations, such as Thales. “Having Women in Engineering and IT scholars sponsored by Thales has further strengthened our long-term partnership that already includes school outreach and the Lucy Mentoring Program. Our scholars are role models in our community, both to our students and staff.’’ said Arti Agrawal, Director of UTS Women in Engineering and IT. 

The aim of the program is to attract, retain and develop women in the fields of Engineering and Information Technology (IT). The scholarship identifies high potential female students who have a passion and interest to pursue a career in Engineering or IT. The scholarship includes three industry placements as well as mentoring, networking, leadership and professional development opportunities.

Katrina attended an on-campus interview during her school holidays and met with a UTS representative and Thales Australia Avionics Technical Director Phil Swadling, as industry sponsor. 

“I was really impressed by all the applicants, their energy and enthusiasm was inspiring. In particular, I was struck by how clearly they were able to articulate why they wanted to study engineering, and how they wanted to use the skills and knowledge they would gain from their studies.”

Katrina received the good news that she was the successful applicant and recalls feeling shocked. “I wouldn’t have considered myself as a ‘techie’ person. I just applied because it was an opportunity and so I went for it.”

Life at university and Thales

Katrina is now in her second year at UTS and majoring in Mechanical and Mechatronics engineering. Her Thales sponsored scholarship offers financial support, industry experience, mentoring, networking and leadership and professional development. 

While the benefits of having tertiary fees paid for are obvious, the internships at Thales are proving to be just as valuable.

Katrina says her three-month summer internship at the Thales Rydalmere site earlier this year taught her more than she expected about the world of engineering and Thales. “I knew by looking online that Thales was a multinational company working mainly in Defence and aerospace, but only really discovered the Underwater Systems part of the business when I started my internship.”

Katrina has spent most of her time at Thales working with 3D modelling and says the experience was insightful for many reasons. “I didn’t have much experience working in 3D modelling at uni. We only had an introductory 2-3 weeks on it so it was really nice to be able to see it in action in a workplace.” The internship also gave Katrina a sense of what skills may be useful for the future as she ponders various career paths after graduation including the potential of working at Thales and possibly Defence.

Another area Katrina is interested in is the mechanics behind prosthetic limbs and mechatronics in sports training, which stems from Katrina’s hobby of coaching and playing volleyball. Katrina recently watched a YouTube clip from Japan where they used a robotic block machine to assist with volleyball training and the notion of combining engineering with sports as a career became real. “I think there’s enough time to go around and figure out what it’s like in these different areas. They might all fall under engineering but it takes trial and error to see which discipline really suits me.”

Either way, Katrina knows the 3D modelling experience gained at Thales will come in handy regardless of which career option she pursues and, if you ask her, this is the beauty of an internship.

“I think having internships in any degree or discipline is like checkpoints to make sure you enjoy what you’re doing and you know what to expect. The experience is pretty fun as well, there’s nothing to lose by finding out what it’s really like in the workplace."

Katrina will return to Thales in January 2021 for another six months and, though the placement location isn’t confirmed, she is hopeful that it’s Rydalmere again so she can catch up with everyone and potentially work with the simulations team.