Supporting more women in STEM on the Sunshine Coast

Veolia ANZ is proud to announce $40,000 in scholarship funding over four years to help more women into electrical engineering. 

This aligns with Veolia’s goals to accelerate decarbonisation and reach net zero targets.

The Veolia Women in Electrical Engineering Scholarship will support female students commencing an undergraduate Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical & Electronic) (Honours) program at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC).

Commencing in 2025, the funding will be provided for two students, valued at $20,000 each, and is founded in the long-standing and combined efforts of Veolia and UniSC to drive innovative sustainability outcomes.

Christophe Maquet, the Veolia Senior Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific, said he was pleased to be able to visit UniSC for the first time to support this important initiative.

“From having a science degree myself, I have seen enormous workforce opportunities that these degrees present, and am very pleased to announce assistance for female students to reach their dream job.”

“This is just one of the ways that Veolia is pushing ahead with ecological transformation, as we help our customers with sustainable solutions.”

Veolia ANZ Chief Operating Officer - Industrial & Energy Grant Winn said it was important to ensure more women went into STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields.

“I’ve got a project management background and it’s crucial we see more women enter STEM courses to progress into jobs in these fields,” said Mr Winn.

“Veolia is one of the largest employers across waste, water and energy and is continuing to grow, and the demand for these roles will only accelerate in the immediate future. We hope to help more female engineers and other STEM-qualified graduates and experienced professionals join our team.”

“Long-term partnerships need to be nurtured to flourish and our relationship with UniSC has become a true example of this engagement,” he said.

UniSC Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Helen Bartlett, said the scholarships would play an important role in attracting more women to engineering. 

“We’ve had an enormous growth in popularity across our engineering courses, 13 percent on last year, and yet all of the new students in the Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and Electronic) program this year have been male,” Professor Bartlett said. 

“Electrical engineering degrees offer enormous career opportunities and Veolia sets high targets for employing female engineers, so it’s important we make those pathways clear for women as they consider their study options. 

“It’s wonderful that we can work with Veolia to create such pathways. Through partnerships like this, our students are able to build networks, access facilities and learn from leading industry experts, and this all leads to better graduate outcomes. 

“Our ongoing partnership with Veolia, and our shared vision of innovation and sustainability, has also led to the development of our water battery which features more than 6,000 solar panels and cuts our energy use at our Sunshine Coast campus by 40 percent. 

“Recent data from Engineering Australia shows that only 13 percent of the Australian engineering workforce is female, and Veolia has set its target at 50 percent, making the company a promising employer for women,” Professor Bartlett said.

The 2024 graduate campaign has seen Veolia hire 5 out of 12 female engineers. While we aimed for 50% female representation, female engineers are in high demand and receive a large volume of offers.  

With a relationship stemming back to the early 2000s, Veolia partnered with the University of Sunshine Coast in the spirit of innovation, executing a formal industry engagement agreement, and together have achieved some stunning, global award-winning outcomes.