25 October 2007

UNSW Dean of Engineering Dianne Wiley has been named among Australia’s 25 Most Influential Female Engineers in a list compiled to mark 2007 as the Year of Women in Engineering.

Professor Wiley paid tribute to UNSW after she was included among the 25 women nominated from a field of 140 candidates by Engineers Australia magazine and a panel of expert judges.

“The selection is as much a recognition of the standing of the Faculty of Engineering and the support I have received at UNSW as it is of any personal achievement,” she said.

Professor Wiley told Engineers Australia magazine it was an interest in finding solutions to practical problems that first led her to the male-dominated field of engineering.

“When I was studying for my PhD in chemical engineering, I was the only woman among 100 PhD students,” she said.

Magazine managing editor Dietrich Georg said the top 25 list demonstrated the wide range of areas in which female engineers are involved, from the petrochemical and steel industries to the military and through to consulting and biomedical engineering.

Professor Wiley told the magazine that good role models and mentors and companies prepared to adjust working arrangements to provide flexible conditions were the key to attracting more women to engineering.