Intel in Shannon continued its focus on promoting science and engineering in the local area by holding its sixth annual Women in Technology (WIT) award ceremony recently. Four new scholarships were awarded, bringing the total number of scholars to 12 for the 2011/2012 academic year.
The WIT program, now in its sixth year, is sponsored and funded by CID with Rose Schooler and Mike Brennan being enthusiastic advocates for the programme and its goals of encouraging a new generation of high-achieving women to pursue science/technology careers, and ultimately, to increase the number of technical females on site.
Anne Kelleher, Ireland HR director, last week presented 13 scholarships to each one of the participants studying electronic and computer courses in a number of third-level institutes (UCC, NUIG, UL, WIT and UCD).
Kelleher highlighted the importance of creating a diverse workplace as a key element to creating a challenging and productive work environment.
A total of 19 individual scholars have been awarded scholarships. Six of these girls are now in full-time engineering positions at the Shannon facility.
The programme is run by a team of people on site, who give their personal time to ensuring the scholarships attract the right candidates – from planning, communication, application review, interviews and final selection – with the award ceremony being the culmination of the whole annual process.
Women are under-represented in the technology workplace
“Intel is very excited about the continued success of this program, the benefit to the company and the benefit to the scholars” said Jonathan Walsh, general manager at Intel Shannon.
“Women are under-represented in the technology workplace. This programme enables us to encourage more women to pursue careers in technology, as well as giving them first-hand experience of the career opportunities at Intel. We had six of the scholars on placement this summer.
“This was a great opportunity for them to experience working at Intel. Recipients now go back to college with a better understanding of how their course work relates to their future career options. We look forward to welcoming them back next year.”
Kelleher congratulated the scholars and their families on their achievements.
“This Shannon WIT scholarship programme is a terrific way to nurture our pipeline of women in technology fields. It’s vitally important as we work to create a diverse workplace which is key to creating a challenging and productive work environment.”
As well as renewing existing scholarships, three new scholarships have been awarded to students from Clare, Cork and Dublin, who will be studying in UL, DCU and Waterford IT respectively.
Each year the programme offers scholarships valued at €2,000 per annum, as well as opportunities for work placements on the Intel Shannon campus. Each scholar is assigned a mentor who is an Intel Shannon employee to assist and provide advice on managing their academic career.
Scholarships are open to female students starting, or in the first two years, of relevant degree or diploma courses. Current award recipients are from the midwest region and are attending UCC, NUIG, DCU and UL to study courses ranging from electronic and computer engineering to mathematical sciences and digital media engineering.
Three more scholarships will be awarded in 2012, information packs will be distributed to all schools in the region and to all the Third Level institutes with applicable courses. Interested students should complete an application form and return them to their careers office before 27 April 2012.
