Happy Women in Engineering Day

On June 23rd, we celebrate International Women in Engineering Day, aiming to recognize all the women who have shone, and continue to shine, in the world of engineering.

We want to wish all women a happy “International Women in Engineering Day,” especially those who are part of Técnicas Reunidas and all the women engineers around the world.

This initiative has been in place since 2014, when the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) in the United Kingdom decided that women who excel in engineering, a field traditionally dominated by men, should be recognized annually.

At Técnicas Reunidas, we want to give the importance they deserve to all the women in this profession, doing such important work to meet Sustainable Development Goals, such as SDG 5 “Gender Equality,” SDG 8 “Decent Work and Economic Growth,” and SDG 10 “Reduced Inequalities.”

This year, 2024, the theme for this day is: “Enhanced by Engineering.” In 2023, it was “Making Safety,” in 2022 “Inventors and Innovators,” and in 2021 “Engineering Heroes.” We join this journey of slogans that highlight the important and revolutionary role of women, in this case, in the engineering sector.

At Técnicas Reunidas, this year we want to highlight the work of Elvira García, who, as she points out in this interview, tells how she reached her current position as Project Director in Holmaneset, Norway. Additionally, in this conversation, she outlines why she studied Mining Engineering and encourages pursuing a science degree, like hers: “if someone is interested in studying a science degree, don’t give up, fight for it, because we spend a lot of time in our lives working, and it’s much more enjoyable to strive and excel when you do something you really like.”

The first female Mining Engineer in Spain, with whom Elvira García had the opportunity to work, was María Dolores Norte Gómez, who specialized in Nuclear Energy in 1975 and worked at Técnicas Reunidas, where she held positions as Manager and Director of both national and international Energy Projects.

Other women who have made history in the field of engineering include Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu (1887-1973), who, after several failed attempts in different countries where she was rejected for being a woman, became the first female engineer in Berlin.

In Spain, the first female engineer was Pilar Careaga Basabe, who graduated from the Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineers of Madrid at the age of 21. In the final year of her studies, she took the railway course and did internships as a train driver, becoming the first woman to drive a train in Spain. Interestingly, she was also the first female mayor of Bilbao.