Overview

This year’s International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) theme is enhanced by engineering. It recognises the incredible contribution women engineers are making to the profession and encourages more women and young girls to pursue a career in engineering.

This webinar will bring together women engineers from diverse disciplines and industries to share their knowledge from developing cutting-edge medical devices to designing sustainable infrastructure, engineering empowers us to push the boundaries of what's possible and make significant strides toward a better future. This event promises to be an inspiring celebration of the remarkable contributions of women engineers in shaping our future. Let's recognise and honour their achievements, empowering future generations of women in engineering to continue building a better, more inclusive world.

Our esteemed speakers will each share a remarkable journey: Tanja, sharing her expertise in human-centered design and engineering worldwide; Astrid, offering insights on the role of risk engineers in addressing climate change; Kelly, unveiling her endeavours with Australian MedTech startups.

Learning outcomes

• participants will gain an understanding of the diverse and impactful contributions made by women engineers from various fields and industries
• appreciate the innovative solutions developed by women engineers to address real-world challenges and improve everyday lives
• showcase the achievements of women engineers and inspire future generations to pursue careers in engineering and STEM 
• be empowered to support and advocate for gender diversity and inclusivity in engineering and other male-dominated industries
• gain insight into how engineering innovations shape and impact our society

About the speakers 

Kelly Coverdale

Managing Director, Cover Biomedical

Biography

Kelly Coverdale is a Biomedical Engineer, founder, leader, advisor, mentor and MedTech product development expert. She recently founded Cover Biomedical, a specialist consultancy, advising and building capability within the Australian MedTech industry. 

With a worked experience in the successful delivery of medical devices to commercialisation, Kelly brings knowledge and capability from both the healthcare and manufacturing industries, across publicly listed, privately owned, government and start-up organisations.

Kelly is a strong advocate for Biomedical Engineering education and professional practice, and their importance for shaping the success of the MedTech industry in Australia. With a rich history of contribution to the profession, her current key roles are Chair of the Engineers Australia Biomedical College and QUT Course Advisory Group, in addition to being a regular industry participant in biomedical education accreditation and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculty of Engineering, School of Mechanical, Medical & Process Engineering, at the Queensland University of Technology.

 

Tanja Rosenqvist

Research Lead, Arup

Biography

Dr Tanja Rosenqvist leads Arup’s research programme in Australasia, including over 70 projects engaging more than 250 researchers each year. She has worked in 16 countries across four continents and designed everything from healing hospital environments to water and sanitation systems, governance systems, and taxation. Prior to joining Arup, Tanja worked in international development for 10 years, as a lead designer for a large international NGO and as an academic. She was named Young Water Professional of the Year in NSW in 2019 and holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Design & Innovation Engineering and a PhD in Sustainable Futures.

Astrid Kauffman

Immediate Past President, Victoria, Engineers Australia

Biography

Astrid is a public sector professional engineer, mentor and risk manager who is excited by the potential to solve complex public policy challenges using systems thinking. Her qualifications are in mechatronics engineering, business and strategic decision and risk management. Astrid is Manager, Delivery Safety at the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority and a member of RMIT’s Manufacturing, Materials, Mechatronics, Mechanical and Automotive Industry Advisory Committee. She is passionate about engineers participating in public policy conversations and is looking forward to supporting EA’s work in climate change and economic transition.  

 

Pay it forward: sponsor a ticket opportunity

In the spirit of INWED, Engineers Australia encourage industry to ‘pay it forward’ by sponsoring a high school student or teacher, or current student engineer to attend this INWED 2024 event. Support the next generation of engineers who will shape our future. 

To get involved, simply select a ‘pay it forward ticket’ at the time of registration to provide a complimentary ticket for an aspiring engineer or educator. 

If you have a recipient in mind, please ensure you invite them to the event and let them know you are supporting them with a sponsored ticket. Please also complete the ‘pay it forward’ box with their name and contact details so that they are formally registered for the event. 

If you don’t have someone in mind but would still like to ‘pay it forward’, select ‘Engineers Australia to fill’ option and Engineers Australia will allocate the ticket to a worthy participant on your behalf.