On the 4th of March 2020, the first World Engineering Day got its own Slovenian edition which is being marked by a conference named Slovenian Engineering Day. Ljubljana’s Cankarjev dom – CD Cultural and Congress Centre hosted the event.
The first World Engineering Day, fully known as the ‘World Day for Engineering for Sustainable Development’, highlighted the achievements of engineers and engineering in our modern world. The aim of the UNESCO International Day and Annual celebration of engineering is to improve public understanding of how engineering and technology is central to modern life and sustainable development.
In engineering, however, there are not only men but more and more there are women engineers coming to light as well. On the 8th of January, for example, Cankarjev dom was a host to another important engineering event: announcement of the Woman Engineer of the Year 2019. The winner was Aida Kamišalić Latifić, researcher and professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor.
The criterion for the selection of the Woman Engineer of the Year, who was awarded in Cankarjev dom’s Klub CD, is not only the scope of the engineering achievements of the nominees, but also their potential to become a role model and inspiration for future generations. In Europe only one fourth of students in STEM areas (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) are women, while in Slovenia women represent one third of such students. One of the important reasons why girls do not opt for engineering professions is the lack of role models and inadequate consideration of the importance of the role of engineers and of their contribution to the evolution of the society. Thus, the projects like these are even more significant.
Kongres Magazine