Edinburgh Napier University

The University welcomed a host of female secondary school pupils to take part in a range of tech-inspired activities. The event also saw IBM’s Sharon Moore MBE give an inspirational talk on how to bring about change for women working in the STEM industries.

Founded in 2009, Ada Lovelace Day is an annual event which aims to increase the profile of women in STEM and, in doing so, create new role models who will encourage more girls in STEM careers and support women already working in STEM.

The afternoon of tech fun saw students participate in a variety of activities – from making their own Enigma code-breaker to programming wearables, controlling robots, wiring their own circuits and much more.

Those pupils then came together with members of the public to attend a short lecture from Sharon Moore MBE.

Sharon spoke about her career to-date as well as sharing more on what she thinks needs to happen to bring about positive change for women in STEM.

She also touched on some of the inspirational figures in her life that consolidated her thoughts that working within the STEM industries was the right choice for her.

Allison Johnstone from Equate Scotland also gave an overview of the work of the organisation alongside sharing more about the importance of equality in STEM.

This year’s Ada Lovelace Day was the biggest yet and saw people from all over the world come together to celebrate the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths.

Diversity and gender equality is at the heart of Edinburgh Napier. It currently holds an Athena SWAN bronze award which recognises its work on gender equality and supporting women’s careers in STEM.

The University is also a parent organisation and partner of Girl Geek Scotland (GGS); an organisation which enables women to develop a career-long mutual support network through dinners, fundraisers, business breakfasts, research projects and skills workshops.