Top international prize for alumna and Robogals founder Marita Cheng
Engineering and IT graduate and founder of Robogals, Marita Cheng, has been honoured with a prestigious international award in recognition of her ongoing work to promote engineering and technology as a career path for young women.
Airbus and the Global Engineering Deans Council presented Marita with the 2014 GEDC Airbus Diversity Award at the World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF) in Dubai this week. Marita receives USD$10,000 to support and develop her work increasing female participation in engineering and IT education.
The award is presented to individuals who have worked to promote diversity in engineering schools and universities, rewarding initiatives that encourage young people of all profiles and backgrounds to study and succeed in engineering.
Marita was selected from over 20 candidates from 12 countries. She was one of three finalists for the prize, who were required to pitch their ideas to an evaluation committee at the Dubai forum.
Marita founded Robogals at the University of Melbourne in 2008. The organisation promotes engineering and technology to schoolgirls through workshops in schools run by Robogals’ team of student volunteers. Robogals also offers training, student challenges and outreach initiatives in rural and regional areas. The organisation has so far reached over 20,000 girls worldwide. In just six years Robogals has grown from a single chapter at Melbourne, to an international organisation in 20 locations across Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Asia.
The Diversity Award is the latest in a range of impressive achievements and awards for Marita, who was also the 2012 Young Australian of the Year in recognition of her work as Robogals founder.
Most recently she was supported by the University of Melbourne’s Melbourne Accelerator Program, with her startup 2Mar Robotics, which provides affordable robotic limbs for people with disabilities.
The Melbourne School of Engineering congratulates Marita on this prestigious recognition of her important work inspiring girls around the world to study Engineering and IT.