Date/Time: Thursday, 9th March 2017, 16:00 - 17:00

Venue: F16 Stephenson Building, Newcastle University

In 1961 history was made as Alan Shepard became the first American to make a suborbital flight of the earth. The engineering and technology that went into this mission was cutting edge for its time. Over 250,000 people worked at NASA to get Shepard into space but unseen, one particular woman made sure he came back.  For mathematician Katherine Goble it was ‘just another day’s work’ but she had the audacity to be bold for change; to influence and collaborate with people who blocked her way and show just what limitless potential women could have, in a time when “women of colour” were seen, but not heard.

Dr Helen Meese, Head of Healthcare at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers will give a presentation to mark International Women’s Day, looking at the lessons that we can learn from women in engineering and science over 50 years ago, and how we can use these lessons to inspire diversity and inclusion in our own workplaces today.

Please note you must register your attendance at this seminar using the online registration form.

Dr Helen Meese CEng MIMechE is Head of Healthcare at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. She works on behalf of the Institution’s 114,000 members, managing its programmes on all aspects of health and social care, focusing on medical equipment, pharmaceutical production, innovative healthcare technologies and their impact on both UK and global communities. Through peer reports, public speaking and policy development she engages with clinicians, government and the media to raise the profile of biomedical and mechanical engineering and its contribution to the health and wellbeing sectors.

She is an Electro-Mechanical Power Engineer with over 20 years of experience in both academia and industry.  Her academic career was spent at Loughborough University researching turbocharger performance characteristics and developing electrical defence systems for armoured vehicles. Her industrial career was predominantly in the defence industry working for Babcock International and GE Energy, where she managed projects on euro-fighter typhoon, submarine systems and naval vessels