Intro

As the title of this blog implies, I am a female engineer. A 26 year old, South African female chemical engineer to be specific. Since working-crying-praying my way to graduation, I have worked in South Africa’s Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry (FMCG companies manufacture and market detergents, toiletries, food products, etc) for five years, mostly practicing as an engineer. I have recently moved into the less technically - but more fashionably - challenging Banking sector to bring some industrial savvy to the rusty cogs turning behind the scenes of catchy slogans and smiling tellers that you see in TV adverts.


The word Femgineer started as a nickname for my own work persona. I am of the opinion that the female engineer, the Femgineer, is a distinctive subset of my gender. I’m not sure if we’re drawn to engineering because of who we are, or if we end up in engineering by mistake and it makes us who we are. But we are a bit… different.


Maybe a lot of what I have to say about us is applicable to female lawyers, doctors or businesswomen as well. All I know is, the experiences that women in engineering endure, the awful things that we have to wear, the amount of chemicals, voltage, radiation, grease and blue collar sexual bravado that we are exposed to, combined with the generic feminine hormonal concoction that is infused in our blood leads to some interesting results, and hopefully some interesting stories. None of them fatal or particularly sexy… I just wanted a catchy title.