The Smurfit Kappa Newman Fellowship on Women in STEM will explore barriers women face to stay in engineering careers.

The insights from this research will have a massive impact on hundreds of women across Ireland.

Smurfit Kappa are happy to support such important research through a philanthropic donation to UCD Foundation.

Commenting on the official launch of the Fellowship, Sharon Whitehead, Vice President of HR at Smurfit Kappa, said: “We are delighted to formally announce the
launch of the Smurfit Kappa Newman Fellowship. At Smurfit Kappa, we are strongly committed to inclusion, diversity & equality and we are particularly passionate about this area of research. As a large multinational employer, we know how important it is to have a gender balanced and diverse workplace that offers equal opportunity for career progression.”

The Fellow will be supported by Professor Aoife Ahern, Dean of Engineering and College Principal in UCD College of Engineering and Architecture.

Professor Ahern said: “Increasing the representation of women in engineering is an important aim, and we have had some success at encouraging more women to study engineering, with intake now standing at approximately 30% of our classes in UCD. However, we also need to look at how women can be retained in the profession, and to examine what needs to be done to encourage women to be leaders in engineering – in business, the public sector and academia. Engineers play an important role in solving the most pressing needs of the world – for example in designing solutions for climate change and the energy crisis, or provision of more sustainable infrastructure. However, if women do not enter into engineering and stay in the engineering profession, they are in danger of being left out of those solutions.”

The Newman Fellow will complete this important postdoctoral research at UCD School of Civil Engineering over the next two years.