The Women’s Engineering Society’s (WES) International Women in Engineering Day, currently in its ninth year, honours remarkable achievements achieved by women in the industry.
Women make up just 16.5 percent of engineers, according to the latest statistics, despite a 10 percent rise from 2010. As a result, the engineering sector must continue to encourage more women to pursue engineering degrees and employment.
To celebrate the event, Nestwave interviewed their Chief Business Officer, Amra Hadzic, about her engineering background, future ambitions, and advice for women and girls who are interested in working in the engineering field.
Amra has extensive experience in the field of IoT and wireless, in various business and sales roles. Prior to joining Nestwave, she oversaw West US region for Thales / Gemalto, selling IoT modules for industrial and automotive applications. She also oversaw US sales for Sequans Communications, and worked at Nemerix, an early GPS leader.
What intrigued you to choose a career in the world of engineering?
Engineering was my first career choice while I was at school. I excelled in maths and science, so it was a natural fit for me. Due to growing up in pre-war Yugoslavia, many women were in engineering, so I never realised that there were not many women in the field until I moved to the US and worked in Switzerland, England and France.
What inspires you about working for Nestwave?
I am inspired to work for Nestwave as we are solving geolocation accuracy in a unique way by splitting the GPS function between the device and the cloud. I believe that Nestwave will change the world of IoT as we currently know it as we begin to enable more applications that were simply not possible before as traditional GPS technologies are too power hungry.
What are your hopes for the future of Nestwave/Engineering?
We already have an excellent team of talented and passionate engineers at Nestwave. I am excited for us to continue our growth while keeping spirit at an all-time high. We have found numerous talented engineers who are passionate about what they do and have a vision of providing geolocations for every IoT device out there, so we are very excited to move to the next phase of growth.
Do you have advice for any girls/women who are considering a career in the world of engineering?
Well, I don’t believe that engineering is a man’s world. On the contrary, I think that women do great in engineering with their attention to detail and seriousness about getting the work done. My advice is – go for it, have fun, and just continue learning and bettering yourself. Never think that being a woman is limiting in any way, for any profession, any role…
What are your current thoughts on the technology industry?
It is a great industry to be part of and continues to be a vital contribution in bettering the world around us.
