The Face of Engineering Conference 2023

Watch a video capturing the inspiring panel discussions and speakers at our previous conference.

Engineering doesn’t involve a gender, race, religion; it involves commitment, determination and resilience.

Schools Day Attendee

There’s people out there from different companies, different places, different parts of the world, and they look exactly like me, they’re doing the same things, going through the same experiences, its nice to share that.

Conference Attendee

Without having these conversations, we wouldn’t be able to make progress, its really integral to help and support people to develop their careers.

Conference Attendee

About The Face of Engineering

The Face of Engineering platforms diversity in engineering. Given that only 16% of the engineering workforce is female, with a similar percentage from BAME communities, the festival provides a space to platform their voices, enhance peer support, and highlight opportunities in the sector, to invest in the future.

The idea started as a podcast during lockdown. Hosted by broadcaster Ngunan Adamu, 13 of the UK's leading women engineers were interviewed. In 2022 we brought these engineers together over a 3 day festival to meet with school children, industry leaders and the public. In 2023 we repeated this format with a theme ‘Moving Forward’, centred around AI, visibility and retention.

Future Plans

In 2024, we are raising the profile of the festival and expanding our engagement programme to become more future-facing than ever. We will run an artist-led programme generating discussion and creativity around young people’s aspirations for themselves and the region. We will also equip industry professionals with youth engagement skills so they can cascade this back into the sector, supporting its resilience.

Here at The Common Room, we are passionate about supporting a future workforce in the wider STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) sectors, to see our society better-reflected in these industries, and the products, services, buildings and spaces they develop.