engSPIRATIONAL

No more of this cheesy “inspirational quote of the day” business. These women and ideas are the real deal. We dare you to not be inspired by them (it’s impossible).

Ways to Support Female Engineering Entrepreneurs

by wemadeit

As you most likely know, there is a major gender gap in leadership roles in the workforce. In 2017, only 15.6% of Canadian businesses were owned by women, while 63.5% were owned by men and 20.9% were owned equally by men and women. Research shows that in communities where female-owned businesses thrive, the country’s GDP grows and the global economy benefits. In places where women’s entrepreneurship is restricted or limited, the opposite happens. Individuals, communities, countries and the global economy miss out on unrealized economic gains when women are underrepresented. Here are ways to help lessen the gap and support women engineers and entrepreneurs.

1 – Buy from women-owned businesses

The easiest way to show your support for women entrepreneurs is to help keep their sales booming. All you have to do is search which businesses in your region are women-owned, keep them handy in a list, and remember to prioritize them the next time you go shopping or are looking for a particular service. Chances are, some of your favourite businesses are led by women. Some examples of female-owned tech and software companies are Canva (Melanie Perkins), Cloud9Insight (Carlene Jackson), Rumarocket.com (Kathleen Yu), LaunchDarkly (Edith Harbaugh), Task Rabbit (Leah Solivan), and Re:3D (Samantha Snabes).

2 – Promote these businesses on social media

Every business needs new customers coming in regularly and a good way to get in contact with potential buyers and make new connections is through social media. Everyone has their own audience on social media that the business may not have access to, so posting the products you buy and tagging the female entrepreneurs that you support will help increase interest in their businesses. There are even existing hashtags like #NWSBM (National Women’s Small Business Month) and #BuyWomenOwned that have lots of followers which can help you get your posts noticed by an even bigger audience. Fun Fact: Both Facebook and Youtube have women in their executive positions, with Sheryl Sandberg as the COO of Facebook and Susan Wojcicki as the CEO of Youtube.

3 – Invest in women-owned companies

You’ve probably noticed that a lot of businesses are suffering due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a lack of financial support. Similarly, a lot of businesses are having trouble getting off the ground because of these economic issues, so making an investment can help give women the means to keep their business thriving. Even making a small donation and telling a few friends can amount to a big impact on these small businesses.

Links

https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/061.nsf/eng/h_03115.html

Supporting Women Entrepreneurs Is Just Good Business

https://business.tutsplus.com/articles/top-women-in-tech-entrepreneurs-in-2018–cms-30686

https://www.women-in-technology.com/wintec-blog/7-female-tech-entrepreneurs

Rising Careers in Engineering

by wemadeit

What is the first thing that you think of when you hear the word ‘engineering’? Circuits? Computer softwares? Spaceships? Engineering is such a diverse field of study, you may not know what career to choose. It is important to understand all the different possibilities available to engineering students and which ones will hold the most critical roles in the near future. Here are some of the fastest-growing areas in engineering to help you out.

Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical engineers, or bioengineers, connect engineering principles and design concepts with medicine and biology. As many new medical devices and technologies get introduced to the world of healthcare every day, more and more bioengineers are needed to keep up with the demand. Employment in biomedical engineering saw a 72% growth rate through 2018.

Software Engineering

Software engineering is one of the fastest rising professions in the world! This is because the number of people switching to digital platforms and technologies to do everyday tasks is growing more than ever, especially due to the coronavirus pandemic. Software engineers use computer programming to create software products, internet services, network control systems, and more. The employment of software developers is projected to have the fastest growth of all professions, 22 percent from 2019 to 2029.

Civil Engineering

Civil engineering focuses on designing and constructing roads, bridges, electrical and water systems, dams and tunnels, and many other public projects and systems. Infrastructure development is going through big changes as new renewable energy sources and modern technologies emerge. Civil engineers are using solar and wind power to pave the way for a more eco-friendly world. The employment of civil engineers is projected to grow 2 percent from 2019 to 2029.

Electrical Engineering

Electrical engineers are involved with design and application of electrical devices and equipment as well as the study of electricity and electromagnetism. They manufacture motors, vehicle parts, navigation systems, solar arrays, semiconductors, and many other consumer devices which will continue to be in high demand in the coming years, with an expected growth rate of 9%

Environmental Engineering

Environmental engineers are in charge of all things sustainability. They handle water supply quality, air quality, contamination, and more. An environmental engineer today would likely focus on the water system sustainability issues that have recently emerged in many municipalities. The employment of environmental engineers is projected to grow 3 percent from 2019 to 2029.

Engineering a Better World: Goal 3 Good Health and Wellbeing

by wemadeit

Have you ever thought about how 3D printing could be the answer to helping more people get organ transplants? Engineers across the globe are thinking about things just like this that contribute to the SDGs. The SDGs, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals, are 17 goals laid out by the United Nations that aim to make the Earth a better and more sustainable place to live. Goal #3, Good Health and Wellbeing, looks to promote and ensure healthy wellbeing for all.

Here are 3 innovative and unique ways some engineers are improving health and wellbeing across the globe:

Virtual Rehab

The uses of virtual reality (VR) are truly endless, and engineers like Dr. ir. Isabel Van De Keere are applying just that to healthcare. She created Immersive Rehab, a type of neurorehabilitation (a process of healing or helping with nervous system-related injuries, like multiple sclerosis and strokes) that combines treatment with VR. Through the use of a VR headset, patients are able to enter a virtual world to perform rehab exercises, interacting with virtual objects. She created this after going through neurorehabilitation herself, following a workplace accident, and finding the exercises tedious with slow recovery. Immersive Rehab is not only fun but aims to improve recovery for patients and reduce lengthy referral times.

Phone App to Prevent Maternal Mortality

*https://twitter.com/theGiftedMom/status/1019489078578958336*

In Cameroon, as of 2017, for every 100,000 live births, there were 529 maternal deaths related to pregnancy. The high maternal and infant mortality rates in the country led engineer Alain Nteff to develop GiftedMom, an app that delivers medical information to mothers before and after their baby is born! Users will first message how long they’ve been pregnant. Every week after, they’ll receive texts that provide information on topics like breastfeeding, vaccines, and booking doctor appointments, which builds public awareness around pregnancy. Users can also submit their questions, to which they’ll get a response from doctors. This is extremely helpful for women living in rural and isolated areas!

3D Printing a Human Heart

https://nypost.com/2019/04/15/scientists-create-entire-human-heart-with-3-d-printer-for-the-first-time/

3D printing is a super cool process that allows you to turn a digital file into a real object — but have you ever imagined this could be used for human organs? At Tel Aviv University, researchers were able to successfully print a human heart. While people have printed the structure of hearts before, this is the first time it has been done using human cells and biological materials. This is a major breakthrough! Around 5,000 heart transplants occur around the world every year, but it is believed up to 50,000 people are in need of them. With such an unmet demand for a life-changing surgery, being able to print hearts to transplant would save countless lives. The technology has a long way to go, as the hearts are currently small and need training to perform like human hearts, but this breakthrough is huge!

Health and wellbeing is something that every single person across the globe is impacted by. Using engineering to come up with solutions to complex problems like these, is a powerful tool that can and will change lives!