On June 23, 2024, International Women in Engineering Day celebrated its 11th year.
The Women's Engineering Society (WES) in the UK established this day to recognize and support women in engineering, empowering them to achieve their full potential.
International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) is now an annual global celebration honoring women in the engineering industry.
Sibongile Manthata graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
She is currently a staff scientist and process design engineer at Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), a chemical manufacturing company and a subsidiary of the petroleum and natural gas company Saudi Aramco.
According to an interview with Career Communications Group (CCG), Sibongile mentioned that she works in licensing polymer technology at SABIC.
Sibongile is a first-generation college student, and she shared her experience of receiving bursaries and internships, which were sponsored by companies as part of their social responsibility portfolio.
These bursaries were merit-based scholarships that funded her education, and after completing her studies, she had the opportunity to work for the sponsoring company and pay back what they sponsored.
Sibongile emphasized the importance of internships during her college years and spoke about her struggles in finding an internship that counted towards her grades due to oversubscription.
Eventually, she approached a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin and secured a summer internship, which later played a fundamental role in her career development.
She described the challenges of finding a job as an international student in the United States, emphasizing the importance of building a network and overcoming uncertainty.
Even with a foreign degree, she found it difficult to secure a job due to the perception of her degree from South Africa. However, her connection with a professor and their startup company ultimately led to a job opportunity.
Sibongile also shared her career progression, from working with Virent Energy Systems in Wisconsin to her return to South Africa, highlighting her diverse roles and experiences as a process engineer and control engineer.
Stella Uzochukwu-Denis is the founder of the Odyssey Educational Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in Nigeria.
She also coaches a competition with FIRST LEGO League Robotics in Nigeria, and has served as a mentor at The New York Academy of Science.
In 2018, Stella participated in the first online conversations hosted by DiscoverE's Global Marathon. DiscoverE (formerly known as the National Engineers Week Foundation) aims to unite, mobilize, and support the engineering and technology volunteer communities.
The theme of the 2018 Global Marathon was "The Future is Now: Inspiring Women in Engineering & Technology," and it kicked off on March 7, coinciding with International Women's Day.
The concluding session of the Global Marathon was "A Day in the Life of Engineers: Making Global Impact," which coincided with DiscoverE's Global Day of the Engineer.
This event is a worldwide celebration that recognizes and celebrates engineers and their global impact.
The session provided participants with a virtual, global journey, offering an insider's look at how engineers on different continents focus their passions on purposeful solutions.
Stella holds degrees in electrical electronics engineering, electronics, and educational technology, as well as a master's degree in telecom management from Aegis School of Business and Telecom.
She has also represented Nigeria at the Technovation World Pitch and is a Master Educator and Regional Ambassador with Technovation, a platform for girls to solve community problems by developing a mobile app.
