Address by Mr. Micheál Martin TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment at Science Foundation Ireland’s Young Women in Engineering Awards Ceremony

Good afternoon distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, award recipients.

It is a great pleasure to be here today to announce the recipients of the 2006 Science Foundation Ireland Young Women in Engineering Scholarships.

This is the inaugural Awards ceremony and I would like to start by congratulating the ten very worthy winners here today.

They are:

• Yvonne Murphy from Hewitt College in Cork;

• Claire Morrison from Thornhill College in Derry;

• Christine Power from St Gobhan’s College in Bantry;

• Helen Guinane from Scoil Carmel in Limerick;

• Laura Bree from Domincan College in Galway;

• Eimear Dolan from Mount Saint Michaels in Mayo;

• Tara Reale from Presentation Secondary School in Kerry;

• Una Hally from Loreto Secondary School in Tipperary;

• Karen McMorrow from Manor House School in Dublin; and

• Niamh O’ Connell from St David’s Holy Faith Secondary School in Wicklow.

I had the privilege of launching this competition last year in Limerick in association with Michael Dell, Chairman of Dell Computers, and I am delighted to be here today at the awards ceremony one year later.

As you are aware, the Awards are aimed at attracting and encouraging more young women into third-level education in engineering disciplines. I am pleased to say, that based on the quality of applications received by Science Foundation Ireland, we have taken a tremendous initial stride towards achieving that goal.

I understand that the task of the judging panel was not easy and it is clear that the 10 winners here today have displayed an extraordinarily high level of ability and commitment. They are young women of exceptional promise.

I don’t know if there are any classical scholars among the audience, but the word engineering is derived from the Latin word “ingeniare”, which means ingenious.

It is the art of directing the elements of nature, for the use and the convenience of people. Engineering therefore, requires above all the creative imagination and talent to seek better means of using natural sources of energy and materials.

It is a fantastic career to pursue. There is a huge range of engineering disciplines to choose from, and once qualified in your chosen area, there are even further choices and alternative career paths to take.

A career in engineering can involve working indoors or outdoors, dealing with intricate designs or supervising projects, inventing or implementing ideas. An engineering qualification also provides valuable, portable skills that can lead to other careers.

This makes it all the more perplexing that less than 15% of students who accept places on four-year engineering degree courses are female - particularly when at Leaving Cert level, there are actually more girls than boys taking science subjects.

I believe the success of this Scholarship will go some way towards addressing this paradox.

There is a clear and unequivocal case for increasing the participation of women in science, engineering and technology in Ireland. The under-representation of women threatens our global competitiveness and requires a co-ordinated set of interventions.

The issue is not simply a matter of equality - ensuring that all careers are open to men and women alike - but one of ensuring that there are sufficient numbers of researchers in science, engineering and technology to support a knowledge-based economy.

For that reason, the SFI Young Women in Engineering Scholarship is not just a one-off initiative. It is part of a broader SFI series of programmes aimed at boosting the number of women scientists in Ireland.

As many of you may be aware, the Taoiseach and I, launched the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation in June of this year.

This is a major Government initiative that puts science, technology and innovation at the heart of Irish economic and social development and will grow our enterprise sector in a sustainable manner.

For you young, budding engineers in the room today, it provides the opportunity to carve an exciting and rewarding career in engineering here in Ireland – something that was not available to most of your parents.

Of course, this initiative would not be possible without the participation of industry and I would like to thank Nicky Hartery from Dell Computers for its role in supporting the scholarship.

Partnerships with major companies such as Dell allow SFI to play a critical role in the recruitment and retention of women in science and engineering careers in Ireland. Dell’s commitment to this Scholarship demonstrates how valuable this sector is to industry and to our economy.

I am also delighted to announce today details of next year’s scholarship – which will again be sponsored by Dell and will provide the same support to encourage female students to take up engineering degree courses. I hope that today's recipients will be examples to female students who will enter college next year and encourage them to apply for engineering courses.

I would like to once again congratulate the winners of these awards and wish them every success in their future academic and scientific endeavours.

And finally, I look forward to returning in 12 months time to meet next year’s talented crop of young female engineers.

ENDS

ETE 1667a