Today, June 23 is International Women in Engineering Day. We have many talented women across NASA that contribute to our success to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind.

Happy Int'l Women in Engr Day! Love working @nasa to plan spacewalks, train astronauts, & flight control! #INWED17 #IAmANASAEngineer #nasa pic.twitter.com/pasndXB8sS

— Grier Wilt (@grierlauren)

June 23, 2017

Hearing from them illuminates the vibrant community of dedicated women who play a vital role at the agency. These women have pushed to pursue their dreams and make a difference everyday at NASA. 

Happy International Women in Engineering Day! #INWED17 #IAmANASAEngineer pic.twitter.com/yvhhAzGUYv

— ~Alexandria~ (@DOPECHICKBEATS)

June 23, 2017

We hope that these stories will inspire girls everywhere to reach for the stars and explore the myriad of opportunities available to them through pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Proud to call these awesome @NASA_Johnson women engineers my friends! Happy Int'l Women in Engineering Day! #INWED17 #IAmANASAEngineer @NASA pic.twitter.com/qGSiR2xVFo

— Jenny On Console (@JennyOnConsole)

June 23, 2017

Join us as we celebrate the achievements of our outstanding women engineers.

Happy International Women in Engineering Day!#IAmANASAEngineer #INWED17 #INWED2017 #KSC @NASA_LSP @NASA @NASAKennedy @kelleyjoooones pic.twitter.com/RRCt75ff5g

— Laura P. Rose (@lauraprose)

June 23, 2017

Learn more and hear stories from the Women at NASA community by visiting http://women.nasa.gov.

We are the smart, incredible women of @LockheedMartin that are building @NASA_Orion at @NASAKennedy ! #INWED17 #IAmANASAEngineer pic.twitter.com/HurWOvhYIn

— Chelsea (@Queen_Of_Quarks)

June 23, 2017

For her senior thesis project, electrical engineering concentrator Janey Farina, S.B. '17, created a haptic glove that simulates an object in the user’s hand by exerting forces on the fingers, enabling virtual reality users to better incorporate the sense of touch into their immersive experiences. The glove's exoskeleton is driven by a series of cables that are actuated in response to virtual reality software. By tracking and actuating each finger individually, the glove enables precise control of finger motion. "In the future, as virtual reality becomes even more common, we will need to find better solutions than the current gaming controllers, which are rather unintuitive," she said. "These sorts of haptic devices will allow us to do so much more with virtual reality, moving us towards the ultimate goal of a fully immersive experience."

Week in Brief (19–23 June)

Credit: shutterstock/Monkey Business Images

Today is International Women in Engineering Day. This is an annual event, taking place on 23 June, which focuses on promoting the role of women in engineering and celebrates the achievements of female engineers.

Organised by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES), the event was set up in 2014 to celebrate WES’s 95th anniversary. This year’s sub-theme is #MenAsAllies.

In 2016, the event attracted global attention, with over 550 events held, including 350 by schools across the UK. The official hashtag trended for eight hours and received over 15,000 posts on the day. Both the BBC and Sky News also covered it.             

This event comes just a few days after The Engineer’s 2017 salary survey revealed that on average women engineers earn £10,000 less per year than their male colleagues. To read the report in full visit, bit.ly/2t1EOkf 

Events will be taking place throughout the day, signposted on twitter using #INWED17. Keep an eye out on the Materials World twitter for updates as we attend an event hosted by the IOM3 Women in Materials (WIM) Group.  

To find out more visit, www.inwed.org.uk

To read more about the role of women in engineering visit the following links – bit.ly/2iTWfuE, bit.ly/2ptpWbE and bit.ly/2pGnPCn

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