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11 SPRING 2015 Developing the young workforce Magnificent Women and their Flying Machines OUR AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING TRAINING CENTRE PROUDLY HOSTED A ‘MAGNIFICENT WOMEN AND THEIR FLYING MACHINES’ EVENT IN DECEMBER, WHICH AIMED TO GET GIRLS THINKING ABOUT A CAREER IN ENGINEERING. Nearly forty second year pupils from schools across South Ayrshire arrived at the College to take part in activities organised in collaboration with Dumfries House Education and the Women’s Engineering Society. The Girls Into Engineering event was the Scottish Launch of the Women’s Engineering Society’s national outreach programme for schools. On arrival, the girls were divided into three teams and given a tour of our aerospace facilities. They then heard a talk from female engineer Linda Relly from GE Caledonian and took a historical look at prominent women in aerospace and aviation over the past century. The teams were challenged to build a STIXX aircraft wing replica, becoming project managers, designers, production staff and planners and replicating the roles played by female aviation engineers during the First World War.