femTUme is a broad professional and scientific women's network of the Faculty for Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at TU Wien. We are a volunteer-led initiative supported by the Dean's Office and the Rector's Office.

femTUme – A Network Introduces Itself

On January 12, the young women’s network femTUme of the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at TUW made an impression with a networking congress.

Group picture of the femTUme Congress participants in the TUtheSky event room. Screen in the background.

© TU Wien

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Die Teilnehmerinnen des femTUme Kongresses.

Group photo with ten women on a terrace.

© femTUme

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femTUme women's network

Die Organisatorinnen des ersten Kongresses von femTUme, dem Frauennetzwerk der Faktultät für Maschinenwesen und Betriebswissenschaften.

Women do not have the same access to informal networks as men. This fact is one of the causes that slow down female career paths. At the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at TU Wien, a group of women decided to establish a network: femTUme. The model for this is the TUW sister-network femChem at the Faculty of Technical Chemistry. On January 12, it happened: femTUme hosted its first congress, where female scientists took the opportunity to present and discuss their research areas and network. TUW Rector Sabine Seidler opened the scientific and informal exchange in the event hall TUtheSky.

femTUme – Making Female Engineers Visible

“femTUme has come to support women – as long as it is necessary,” said Viktoria Illyés at the beginning. The necessity of this is shown by the numbers: At the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, the percentage of female professors is 10 percent, and the proportion of female students in mechanical engineering is roughly the same, noted Dora Zagorac from femTUme in her first short talk at the congress. She also mentioned another interesting figure: Studies show that at least 30 percent of an underrepresented gender is needed to change the way a group communicates.

Diversity of Topics

The presentations provided an insight into the breadth of topics being researched at the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. Seventeen female scientists of all ages and career stages presented their work in four blocks: “Social Science & Engineering,” “3D Bioprinting,” “Energy Systems,” and “Material Science,” illustrating the impressive diversity of female contributions to science and society.

Maintaining Networks

A good New Year’s resolution: Take time for networking. It has been shown that networks contribute more to a positive career development than excellent scientific performance, said Dora Zagorac from femTUme. The organizers generously allocated time for networking after the congress, which the attending women gladly took advantage of.

What Does the Future Hold?

From the very beginning, a positive conclusion could be drawn due to the numerous registrations. The many satisfied faces of the attendees confirmed the organizing team’s impression that the first femTUme congress was a complete success. Accordingly, the second congress is already planned for next year!

femTUme is a broad professional and scientific women's network of the Faculty for Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at TU Wien. It is a volunteer-led initiative supported by the Dean's Office and the Rector's Office.

Info: https://www.tuwien.at/mwbw/dekanat/femtume, opens in new window