For International Women’s Day, Students at Wakefield Girls’ High School have been encouraged to pursue a career in engineering following an inspirational talk from Sarah Honeyman , our Lead Product Designer here at Sutcliffe Play.
The talk chronicled Sarah’s journey from pupil at Wakefield Girls’ High School, through to her Product Design studies at Leeds University, before eventually joining Sutcliffe Play in 2014 as a Junior Designer.
During the session, students were assigned a brief to design a piece of play equipment that would encourage an element of fitness for youngsters, and asked to consider key factors such as risk, materials, construction and inclusivity.
Sarah, whose responsibilities at Sutcliffe Play include the development of new playground equipment from conception through to manufacture, said: “Education is so important when it comes to building a young person’s confidence, and it was my experience at Wakefield Girls’ High School that gave me the strong foundation I needed to pursue my career.
“Since joining Sutcliffe Play five years ago, I have progressed from a junior to a middleweight designer, taking responsibility for various aspects of engineering, to costings and product certification. It’s vital that young women embrace the opportunities available to them in what was historically a male dominated industry.”
Annette Oliver, Head of Careers at Wakefield Girls’ High School, said: “We invited Sarah to offer her perspective on women in engineering, as part of a series of workshops for National Careers Week. Students really enjoyed hearing about her experiences, and we hope that some of her learnings will be helpful to them when looking to carve out their own career path.”
