WIDE (Women in Innovation, Design and Engineering) Student Conference – Boundless Engineering

 

After 3 years of online events, the Women in Engineering Student Conference comes back face-to-face, this time widened to Women in Innovation, Design and Engineering (WIDE) and with the theme Boundless Engineering.

According to Nobel Laureate Herb Simon: “… to design is to devise courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones”. In the world as it is, many changes are needed to achieve a fairer and more sustainable planet. Much of this transformation will be enabled by designers and engineers. This conference explores how to make a difference as an engineer or designer. The possibilities are boundless.

The conference starts with a keynote from “Engineers without borders”, who will speak about their international work and how students can be part of these projects. Then, an employers’ panel will be open for questions and there will be several workshops and presentations from engineers, all at different points in their careers.

The conference is designed to give you as much opportunity as possible to meet other students, Associate Lecturers and other members of OU staff. The conference starts on Saturday, 1 July, with an evening dinner and networking opportunities, followed by a complete programme on Sunday. Participants can choose to join the event on both days or only on the Sunday.

 

Important dates

Conference: 1st and 2nd July 2023

Registration deadline: 20th June 2023

Bursary applications will be considered up until the registration deadline and successful applicants notified as soon as possible

We have 50 accommodation bursaries of up to £75 and 25 travel bursaries of up to £100 available.

To apply for a bursary please complete the form at this link: Bursary Application Form 

We aim to widen participation as much as possible and offer support to as many students as we can. Please consider sharing travel or looking for other types of accommodation.

 

Venue

The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA

map

Travel to the Milton Keynes campus can be found at:

http://www.open.ac.uk/about/estates/travel-advice/directions-walton-hall-campus 

The map of the campus can be found at:

https://www.open.ac.uk/about/estates/travel-advice/map-venues-walton-hall

More information will be sent to the participants prior to the conference.

 

Registration

Conference fee: £29

Meals: The evening social dinner on Saturday, lunch on Sunday and refreshments at tea/coffee breaks during the conference are all included.

Register here: Conference Attendance 

 

Accommodation

Please make your own arrangements for accommodation. There are many hotels in Milton Keynes within walking distance of the OU. There is ample car parking on campus.

 

Conference Programme

	Saturday 1st July
17:00	Arrival and registration
18:30	Dinner
	Talks and activity with Fay Banks and Phoebe Mann
	Networking with students, staff and guests
	Sunday 2nd July
09:45	Arrival & Registration (day-only delegates)
10:00	Welcome from Claudia Eckert and Diane Butler
10:15	Keynote speech:  Engineers without borders
11:15	Workshops
12:15	Lunch
13:00	Workshops
14:00	Panel discussion and Q&A : Making a difference as an engineer
	Tamara Monti - EuroNorth Education Sales Manager
	Ramona Mihailescu – Network Rail – Engineer
	Katharine Rymell – Nissan – Leader of Talent & DEI Strategy Management
	Jodie Bowman – Leonardo – Senior Microwave Engineer
	Professor Fiona Clark – Leonardo – Head of Capability for EW Sensors
15:00	Coffee break
15:30	Early career engineer talks:
	Lois Damptey, PhD student, Open University
	Tiffany Roberts, Nextbase, Test manager
	Tamara Monti, EuroNorth, Education Sales Manager
16:30	Closing remarks – Claudia Eckert

 

Past and future events

Year	Event	Venue
2016	Conference – Making connections – Celebrating Women in Engineering	Walton Hall campus in Milton Keynes
2017	Conference – Creating supportive environments	Walton Hall campus in Milton Keynes
2018	Conference – Levelling the playing field	Walton Hall campus in Milton Keynes
2019	Conference - Transforming the future – engineering for all	Birmingham
2021	Conference – Engineering heroes	Online
2022	November webinar series	Online
2023	Conference – Boundless engineering	Walton Hall campus in Milton Keynes
2024	Conference - TBC	Online
2025	Conference - TBC	Scotland
2026	Conference - TBC	Online