Engineers Australia CEO Dr Bronwyn Evans AM has been honoured with the Women in Industry Excellence in Engineering Award and named Woman of the Year at a gala dinner in Melbourne on Thursday night.
Evans was acknowledged as an outstanding engineer and trailblazer in her field – she was the first woman to graduate from electrical engineering at Wollongong University and her career has taken her from industry and academia to the boardroom.
Following her recognition, create spoke with Evans about her career and champing gender equality in the workplace.
Striving for excellence
The first woman to occupy the role of CEO at Engineers Australia, Evans was previously the first female CEO of Standards Australia, where she was instrumental in improving the standards development process and was elected to a global role on the ISO’s governing President’s Committee.
She has held a plethora of non-executive positions, many on a volunteer basis, in areas including Industry 4.0, STEM, industry-academia connections, construction and innovation.
Evans is a Chartered engineer and Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia. In 2021, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Swinburne University and appointed as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for significant service to engineering, to standards and to medical technology.
Striving for gender equality
In accepting the award, Evans said there was still much work to do to increase the number of women in industry.
“Nights like tonight are important so we can celebrate our successes. However, we still need to have difficult conversations about education, bias, assumptions and missed opportunities for women in industry,” she said.
“We know we will have succeeded when women are represented 50 per cent top to bottom. I urge all of us here tonight to use our profiles and our influence to be role models and to be champions for the amazing women who are joining our industries and professions.”
Category sponsor BAE Systems said they were particularly proud to sponsor the Engineering Excellence category in 2021.
“We have female engineers to thank for many of the world’s greatest innovations, yet they make up only 12 per cent of engineers employed in Australia. Awards such as these are important to not only celebrate achievement but to also provide inspiration to others to break down barriers and excel in the engineering industry.”
The Women in Industry Awards recognise outstanding women from the industrial sector – those who work in mining, road transport, manufacturing, engineering, logistics, bulk handling, waste management, rail and infrastructure.
