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Secondary school pupils gathered at Southern Regional College's Newry West Campus on Wednesday, 29 April 2026 for a special Females in Engineering event aimed at encouraging more young women to consider careers in STEM. Schools represented on the day included Our Lady's Grammar School Newry, St Mary's High School Newry, St Malachy's High School Castlewellan and St Catherine's College Armagh.
at the Females in Engineering Event at Southern Regional College.
The event featured keynote speaker Bernie Collins, a Sky Sports Formula 1 analyst and former Head of Race Strategy at Aston Martin, alongside three students from the College's championship-winning STEM Racing Car team. Engineering Level 3 Extended Diploma students Chloe O'Hare, Sophie Houston and Ellie Magee each shared personal insights into their journeys within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
Ellie Magee spoke about her role as Graphic Designer for Team SCAR, explaining how she leads on visual elements including the team's portfolio layout and pit display. She highlighted that engineering extends well beyond technical calculations, pointing to the importance of "teamwork, creativity, communication and sometimes arguing about what shade of red looks best."
Magee from SRC’s Championship winning STEM Racing Car team. Ellie is currently
undertaking the Engineering Level 3 Extended Diploma at the College’s Newry
Campus and is keen to encourage more females to consider a role in engineering.
Ellie said: "For years, women weren't encouraged to go into engineering. We didn't see many women in these roles, so it's easy to think, maybe that's not for me. But that's changing, and it needs to keep changing. The truth is engineering needs us. It needs different perspectives, different ideas, and different ways of thinking. When you bring more voices into engineering, you get better solutions, more innovation and designs that work for more people."
Pupils also took part in a range of interactive activities on the day, including a 20-metre two-lane racing track where they could test miniature race cars, a reaction time challenge, a smoke trace visualisation demonstration and a wind tunnel experiment showing the effects of drag and airflow on racing performance, as well as a variety of other STEM displays.
Mrs Lee Campbell, Principal and Chief Executive of Southern Regional College, said: "The engineering industry needs more than technical ability, it needs creativity, communication, leadership and fresh perspectives. Events like 'Females in Engineering – I am an Engineer' are about showing young women that there is absolutely a place for them within engineering and other STEM career routes. Seeing our students speak so confidently about their experiences and achievements is proof of what can happen when talent is encouraged and supported."
