Lines Company customer projects engineer Ceelia Johny
By encouraging more young women into a hands-on roles in industry, Ceelia Johny is leading by example.
“Being a woman engineer at The Lines Company (TLC) gives me the opportunity to stand out and show that women can work in the engineering field,” the customer projects engineer said.
TLC, working with Connexis Infrastructure Training, will host a Girls with Hi-Vis (GWHV) event aimed to inspire women to consider roles in industry.
Students from Te Wharekura o Maniapoto school near Te Kūiti will attend the event next Wednesday. As part of her role, Ceelia ensures phone connections are in sound working order.
“When we do a new connection, I focus on is how efficient it is going to be on a network and how it can be most practical for our customer. We have to think outside the box. Women may give a very different viewpoint of certain ways of doing things in the electricity industry.”
The 30-year-old is based in Te Kūiti and is from Dubai. She studied engineering at post graduate level and draws on a background in industrial automation. She has been at TLC since late last year.
“I believe women who are in engineering can be role models. Just seeing someone in a role like this can give young women a confidence boost showing they can achieve even in a male dominated field,” she said.
Overall, 30 per cent of TLC’s workforce is female and the company wants that number to rise.
Ceelia is familiar with initiatives that help young women connect with others who have already made the grade.
“When I was at university, a couple of seniors came to encourage us into fields such as automation. We saw that it’s not as hard as some might think and women can be engineers.
“It’s about sharing experiences as an engineer and ongoing knowledge and developing skill sets in a male-dominated environment. I think it is important to help women gain more confidence to take up engineering as a career.”
Chief executive Mike Fox said participants at next week’s event will hear from female staff about their roles, the journey to where they are and what they encourage participants to take away from the day. They will break into groups hands-on activities and the company’s human resource team will outline roles available across the business and how people can go about applying for them.”
TLC has no female mechanics or electricians and the company is looking to add to its ranks in these frontline positions.
“Ceelia Johny is our most recent recruit into the engineering team and our first female engineer for some years,” Fox said.
“Driving these numbers up and encouraging young women to consider traditionally male dominated roles is precisely why TLC put its hand up to host a Girls with Hi-Vis initiative.”
