23 June 2014
FDF celebrates National Women in Engineering day
The UK food and drink manufacturing sector is marking National Women in
Engineering Day (23 June), organised by the Women’s Engineering Society,
through a
series of events for young people and educators to raise the profile and
celebrate
the achievements of women engineers in our sector.
Representatives from some of the UK’s biggest brands are taking part in
activities to give students and educators a taste of the day to day
responsibilities of
a food engineer, as well as helping young women understand the different routes
into the industry which are available to them.
Danielle Epstein, a graduate in Chemical Engineering, who recently joined
Coca-Cola
Enterprises’ University Talent Programme in supply chain has been taking part
in “I’m An Engineer, Get Me Out Of Here”. This is an online event where school students interact with engineers
to get an insight into what it’s really like to be an engineer in the food and
drink manufacturing sector. Danielle is also able to talk to them about why she
chose engineering as a career and her first job role on the graduate scheme as
an
Asset Care System’s Supervisor, working on maintaining production line
equipment
in the biggest soft drinks factory in Europe.
And, building on the work of the UK’s first MEng Food Engineering degree at
Sheffield
Hallam University, Hannah Whall, Nestle UK & Ireland’s Project Engineer, is
speaking to 35 female pupils from local secondary schools at Sheffield Hallam
about her role as a food engineer for one of the country’s largest
food
and drink manufacturers as well as take part in activity to really help bring
engineering to life.
These events form part of FDF’s Taste Success careers campaign and STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) pledge to support the Government’s “Your Life” campaign which aims to increase
participation in STEM subjects especially
amongst
women.
Angela Coleshill, Director of Employment and Skills at FDF, said:
“Food and drink is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector and employs up to
400,000
people. However an ageing workforce means that between 2010 and 2020 food and
drink businesses we will need to recruit 170,300 individuals and engineering is
one key vital specialism we need to continue to grow and remain competitive.
“Through initiatives like the creation of the UK’s first MEng Food Engineering
degree at Sheffield Hallam and the Government’s “Your Life”
campaign,
we are working to raise the profile of food engineering by highlighting the
range of rewarding careers on offer and the many benefits of working in an
innovative, dynamic and growing sector.”
Notes to editors
- The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is the voice of the food and drink
manufacturing industry – the UK’s largest manufacturing sector. For more
information
about FDF and the industry we represent visit: www.fdf.org.uk - Women in Engineering Society (WES) – working to inspire women in engineering and allied sciences for 95
years; promoting careers in engineering; supporting companies with gender
diversity;
and speaking as the collective voice of women engineers - National Women in engineering day has been set up by WES to celebrate its 95th
anniversary. The aim is to celebrate the work that women do in engineering, and
to showcase the great engineering careers that are available for girls. – See
more at: www.nwed.org.uk - Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd makes, sells and distributes soft drinks for every
occasion in Great Britain. For more information visit www.cokecce.co.uk - Nestle UK and Ireland www.nestle.co.uk
- The MEng Food Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University has been developed by Graduate Excellence , a partnership between the Food and Drink Federation, the National Skills
Academy for Food & Drink and Sheffield Hallam University. - The National Skills Academy for Food & Drink is the food and drink manufacturing industry’s skills body. The Academy was
created in 2007 to facilitate sector specific training provision to drive up
sector
productivity and competitiveness in line with employer needs. Training
organisations that become part of the Academy undergo rigorous quality checks
and include
both publicly and privately funded learning centres. Each delivers some aspect
of skills development for the food and drink manufacturing industry as a whole,
and/or specialist skills for one of its various sub-sectors. - Sheffield Hallam University is one of the UK’s largest universities with more than 36,000 students, 27,000
of which are undergraduates. The University has the fourth highest number of
postgraduate taught students in the UK and runs approximately 580 different
courses.
The University is England’s largest provider of courses that involve work
placements (such as a year in industry) and 91 per cent of the University’s
graduates
are in work or further study six months after graduation.
More information
For further information please contact Anna Taylor ([email protected]) on 020 7420 7118 or Avni Raval ([email protected]) on 020 7420 7131
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