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An innovative and interactive digital campaign aimed at breaking down the stereotypes associated with engineering and encouraging more young women to study engineering was launched on 15 July 2016 by the Group of Eight (GO8) universities and Engineers Australia, featuring the music of contemporary artists, NERVO.

The campaign, known as Made By Me , is a website featuring a video clip with female engineers creating androids using different engineering solutions and technologies. Having studied sound engineering, Miriam ‘Mim’ and Olivia ‘Liv’ NERVO said the idea of the project immediately resonated with them.

“When we did engineering, we were the only girls in the class. So when we were approached to get behind this project it just made sense,” the duo said.

Each engineering element featured in the music video and the types of engineers who create them, will be showcased on the webpage. Two UWA engineering graduates feature in the campaign - Kelsey Kennedy and Rebecca Dracup - as exciting female role models who have pursued a career in engineering.

Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Faculty Marketing Manager, Ms Zahra Mansurali who was part of the GO8 working group for the campaign said the campaign will help young women embrace their curiosity for technology and the way things work.

“The aim of this campaign is to shine a light on how truly diverse engineering is, and demonstrate that engineering and the solutions created by engineers exist all around us in our everyday lives. We want to break down the stereotypes associated with engineering so that young people are inspired to use their problem solving skills and creativity to make meaningful changes to the world we live in.”

Dr Alex Bannigan, Made By Me spokesperson and Women in Engineering Manager, UNSW Engineering, said the project highlights the far-reaching career prospects of engineering in response to a real need for more women to participate in the field.

“Engineering is a very future-looking discipline that it integral to medicine, technology, communication, food production – everything around us that we value and rely on. People don’t realise that engineers have a lot of potential to help people,” Bannigan said.

The campaign will largely be delivered through online channels including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and will encourage users to generate their own content by capturing their work and using the hashtag #madebyme.

The video will be shown as part of ongoing Faculty outreach, such as the UWA Open Day on Sunday 14 August and visits to high schools.

About NERVO
Having written and produced hits for the likes of Kylie Minogue, Ke$ha, The Pussycat Dolls, Afrojack, Steve Aoki and Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) to name a few, and receiving a Grammy Award for writing ‘When Love Takes Over’ for David Guetta and Kelly Rowland, the sisters of NERVO from Australia have risen to stardom with their song writing skills alone. Add to this a DJ schedule spanning over 200 live shows world-wide per year, with main stage slots at some of the world’s biggest festivals (Tomorrowland, EDC, Creamfields), Las Vegas residencies at super clubs Hakkasan and Omnia, a number 16 spot in the DJ Mag top 100 DJ’s, a string of club hits of their own and a chart-topping debut album ‘Collateral’ in 2015 to high critical acclaim, it’s fair to say NERVO are credited with being one of the biggest dance acts in the business!

Media references

Zahra Mansurali (Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics)        (08) 6488 3992