If the names of Ada Lovelace or Beatrice ‘Tilly’ Shilling don’t mean anything to you then you are missing out on historic advancements in computer programming and aircraft engineering that have shaped the world we live in today. Thanks to National Lottery players we’ve celebrated the lives of women in industry and engineering and are supporting new opportunities for engineering in the heritage sector.

Pioneers of Aviation

The Yorkshire Aircraft Museum celebrates Yorkshire pioneers of aviation and Hull-born Amy Johnson features in their top five. She was the first female to fly solo international flights to Australia and Russia but was also the first female in the UK to gain an Air Ministry’s ground-engineer’s licence.

Women in Industry

Women’s contributions to engineering and industry are more than the sum of some notable figures and the South Yorkshire Women in Industry project has brought to light the everyday involvement of women across industries in South Yorkshire from steel to confectionary. Sheffield Industrial Museum Trust will be running Women in Engineering Trail on Sunday 25 June at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet showcasing some of the amazing women in the life of the Hamlet.

New opportunities

Through the Skills for the Future programme new opportunities for trainees in heritage skills have opened doors. Hazel Pennack has gone from a degree in Engineering Design and Appropriate Technology to train as a boilersmith with the Boiler Engineering Skills Training Trust to help protect steam engines and boilers.

To find out more please check out the International Women in Engineering Day website and to discover more women from engineering past and present please visit the Women in Engineering Society’s Magnificent Women and their flying machines website.