The Life Scientific - Dawn Bonfield

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2024

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The engineering industry, like many other STEM sectors, has a problem with diversity: one that Dawn Bonfield believes we can and must fix, if we're to get a handle on much more pressing planetary problems...

Dawn is a materials engineer by background, who held roles at Citroën in France and British Aerospace in the UK. But, after having her third child, she made the difficult decision to leave the industry - as she thought at the time, for good. However a short spell working in post-natal services and childcare gave her new skills and a fresh perspective. This led to Dawn rehabilitating the struggling Women in Engineering Society and creating ‘International Women In Engineering Day’, which has just celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Today, she’s Professor of Practice in Engineering for Sustainable Development at King’s College London, and the founder of Magnificent Women: a social enterprise celebrating the story of female engineers over the past century. She’s also President of the Commonwealth Engineers’ Council and has had her work supporting diversity and inclusion recognised with an MBE.

Dawn talks to Professor Jim Al-Khalili about why 'inclusive engineering' should not be dismissed as tokenism, and why she's optimistic about the engineering sector's power to change the world.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.
0:06.5	I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:11.1	I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,
0:16.0	relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.
0:22.4	So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,
0:28.3	and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience, and maybe that's you.
0:33.6	So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.
0:38.4	Hello, today we're talking about diversity and science, and more specifically in engineering.
0:44.5	Dawn Bonfield is a material engineer by background. She enjoyed successful stints at Citrin in France
0:50.4	and British aerospace in the UK. But after having her third child, she made the difficult
0:55.4	decision to leave the industry. And Dawn admits she thought that this was going to be the end
0:59.7	of her scientific story, but a short spell working in post-natal services gave her new skills
1:04.9	and a fresh perspective. This led to her rehabilitating the struggling Women in Engineering Society
1:11.1	and creating International Women in Engineering Day,
1:14.6	which has just celebrated its 10th anniversary.
1:17.5	Today she's Professor of Practice in Engineering for Sustainable Development
1:21.2	at King's College London and the founder of magnificent women,
1:25.3	a social enterprise celebrating the stories of female engineers over the past century.
1:30.3	She's also president of the Commonwealth Engineers Council,
1:33.3	Anne has had her work supporting diversity and inclusion recognised with an MBE,
1:38.0	quite the turnaround for someone who once thought they'd left the engineering sector behind them forever.
1:42.9	Dawn Bonfield, welcome to the Life Scientific.
	...

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