Airbus Group Joins Deans In Drive To Increase Diversity In The Global Engineering Community

[Airbus Deutschland GmbH - 07.05.2015] Airbus Group Joins Deans In Drive To Increase Diversity In The Global Engineering Community

Airbus Group and the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) have launched the call for nominations for the third Award for Diversity in Engineering Education, which recognises people who are making engineering schools more diverse and inclusive.
Airbus Group and the GEDC are joining forces to inspire even more people to create equally successful initiatives in their own institutions. At Airbus Group, diversity means including people with different perspectives and experiences, with employees whose background, gender, age or ethnicity reflect the complete spectrum of the global community.
"Diversity is a core value at Airbus Group. Not only does it go hand-in-hand with innovation and better problem-solving, but by ensuring that everyones voice is heard, we are a stronger company too," said Charles Champion, Airbus Executive Vice President Engineering and Award patron. "With this Award, we are determined to play a leading part in ensuring a long term and lasting increase in the diversity of the engineering profession, because we see the enormous, wide-ranging business value that it brings."
In December 2014, the second Diversity Award went to Marita Cheng from Australia.
Marita founded Robogals Global, an initiative designed to inspire girls aged 10-14 to choose engineering and technical careers. She was selected from a global pool of candidates and received 10,000 US dollars from Airbus to support her work in this field.
"With every edition of this Award, we are showcasing and sharing the contagious initiatives that are proven to positively impact on diversity in the engineering classroom," said John Beynon, Dean of Engineering, University of Adelaide, Australia and Chair of the GEDC. "The Award promotes a wider understanding of what increasing diversity encompasses - from projects focused on gender or ethnicity, disability inclusion, intergenerational learning or the benefits of cross-cultural problem-solving."
Airbus Group continues to be inspired by such commitment. This is why the Group and its Divisions invest in programmes to encourage diversity worldwide. These include initiatives such as the "Fly your Ideas" challenge inspiring young people from around the world to learn and innovate with Airbus; the "Flying Challenge" programme encouraging underprivileged kids to pursue education and careers in aerospace; as well as the "Irène Joliot Curie Awards" highlighting the contribution of women to modern day science and engineering.
Nominations for this third award will close on 30 June 2015, with the recipient to be announced at the annual GEDC conference in Adelaide, Australia in December 2015. Applications can now be submitted.
More information is available on the Award website: www.diversityinengineering.com.
Airbus Group
Airbus Group is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2014, the Group - comprising Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Helicopters - generated revenues of € 60.7 billion and employed a workforce of around 138,600.
Global Engineering Deans Council
The Global Engineering Deans Council is the leading international network of engineering deans, working for the advancement of engineering education and research in both the developed and developing world.

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