The average age of the meeting plummeted on 5 April 2021. Anika Scott, the latest recipient of the Diamond Engineering Award, came to tell us how she had spent the money and to revive old memories of student life.
The Diamond Engineering Award
Anika is the fifth recipient of the award in its present form. We had already made an engineering award in December 2015, but at our Diamond Anniversary in 2016 it was decided to do so annually. We called the annual award, the Diamond Engineering Award (an imprecision that would no doubt make every self-respecting engineer grind their teeth).
The purpose of the award is to encourage a female student to study engineering either at university or as an apprenticeship. It is funded by an annual lunch with members and Friends.
2020 Award Recipient
Anika, a former pupil of Buntingford College where she took A levels in Maths, Physics and Geography, is in her first year of a Master’s course in Civil Engineering at Surrey University.
The course, which has several other female students (the university’s online prospectus is very careful to feature them) lasts five years, including a placement in Year 3. While still at school she had a placement with GlaxoSmithKline. To build on that, this summer she will spend eight weeks with bridge specialists Hewson Consulting Engineers in Guildford.
This year’s course, which started in September 2020, has four different modules: Maths, Integrated Design, Structural Design and Stress Analysis. During the Covid-19 pandemic lectures have been online but tutorials have been held in person. Interestingly, civil engineering is one of only three courses in the entire university where students have been able to attend in person.
Use of the Award
Right at the start of the year Anika needed to buy personal protective equipment to work on projects. So, the £250 of the award came in very useful.
The students engage in proper professional engineering laboratory work. One of the first projects was DAB (design, assemble and disassemble) – a hands-on project. Surrey’s students met, worked with and gave feedback to students of other universities in groups of eight.
Another project was Fluid Mechanics: the study of water as it passes through pipes and its effect on pipework, as well as the effect of water pressure if it builds up.
Anika has a keen interest in geology and geomechanics – the study of the way in which rocks stress in response to changes in stress, pressure and temperature, and how and when faults will develop – how and when faults will develop, which is obviously vital to the practice of civil engineering. Also vital for all our future is her concern for sustainability and our carbon footprint. As part of this she has taken a course in engineering and sustainable power, including wind turbines.
Soroptimism
It is a sign of the times that although several members would have liked to pursue careers in this field, it is only comparatively recently that it has been possible for women to do so. Opportunities for young women have changed enormously. Anika is an excellent example of Soroptimism’s aims and what it can help a younger generation to achieve.