Episode #16

• Becky graduated from ANU in Canberra with a double major – Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Commerce in Renewable Energy Systems Finance. 
• She has worked with Engineers without Borders, is a Contributor to Create Digital (the Engineers Australia e-Magazine) and is currently a Venture Analyst with Right Click Capital. 
• She was recently awarded the Engineers Without Borders/MECCA MPower 2018/19 scholarship to connect, inspire and empower young women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to pursue STEM education. 
• The first vehicle she bought was a motorbike in Cambodia.  When coupled with an Australia standards helmet, it was an interesting sight for the locals. 
• You could say Becky is super-competitive – when her elder brother said she couldn’t be an engineer she was determined to prove him wrong.  Her determination actually held her in good stead due to the challenges she faced by being only 1 of 20 women in her engineering class of 150.

• Becky is concerned with the proportion of women, or the lack of women, within engineering.  
• Engineers are literally building the technology that is going to be used in the future and that is being used by all people. 
• It is a worry that the engineers that are building our society are not representative of the wider community that is using it. 
• There are groups of people talking about the issue, and it is becoming a topic.  Becky believes this is the first step in creating change, but it is not going to fix the problem.   
• “I think you need a holistic approach to solve such a complex problem. It needs to come from top down and bottom up and from the education system, and from policy..” 
• Hiring women is not just about quota.  Need to look at the culture and how it is fostering or deterring women from deciding if they are going to take a job within your company.  Read Becky’s article.

• Working on renewable energy systems can be a great experience in Cambodia.  Becky enjoys building things and finds great satisfaction with being able to see to completion what she created and built and the effect she has brought to the community.  Read about Becky’s first engineering role.
• Community lead projects are great to identify what could work, what the community really wants and how best to make things happen. Read more about this fascinating project.
• Becky is working in a very non-traditional engineering role, being at Right Click Capital. Getting a double major, she is in a great role for the engineering and finance side. 
• The drop-out rate of women engineers as they progress through their career is concerning. 
• Becky finds her current role with Engineers Without Borders fascinating – what barriers are women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people facing, and what can we do about it. 
• Preparing future engineers. “The thing that we should be thinking about is not what technological discipline we should be teaching engineering students, but what skills should we be teaching engineering students so they are best equipped to deal with the changing world and the changing future.” 
• Future engineers will be global thinkers. “As you look at global challenges like climate change, there is an increasing need to work and collaborate with other groups and other disciplines, and that means engineers will be well placed to lead the way in creating solutions for these global challenges” 
• Ethical engineering.  Engineers must consider with what they are creating and developing. 
• Advice to engineers just starting out: “create your own path”… “There are so many opportunities to apply engineering skills in different environments.” 
• Space is such a fascinating segment at the moment as it is transitioning from government funded bodies to business and corporates.  Space travel will be driven by the corporate sector.

An engineering item for discussion. Aeroplanes are an incredible piece of engineering.  Dom especially loves the Concorde

An engineer to admire. University lecturer – Jeremy Smith.  Sparked Becky’s interest in humanitarian engineering and has completed some fantastic work at ANU.

Website: www.engineeringheroes.com.au 

Facebook: @BeerWithAnEngineer

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LinkedIn: Beer With An Engineer

Melanie on LinkedIn

Dominic on LinkedIn 

Our drinking game.  You can’t have a beer with an engineer without having a drinking game!!  Anytime Dom says “ummm” or Mel says “so”… drink up!