Domino Printing celebrates International Women in Engineering Day with team tributes

Domino Printing is marking this year’s International Women in Engineering Day today by paying tribute to some of its female employees working in key technical roles.

As a business, Domino “welcomes the annual awareness campaign by the Women’s Engineering Society to highlight the range of rewarding careers available in the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics which, for a long time, were more popular with boys”.

Susan Palmer, head of global pre-sales, realised at school that she was interested in a technical career which led her to study for a degree in materials science including three six-month industrial work placements.

“I have held several roles in Domino and having a good technical background has enabled me to use my skills to understand information and explain it in a way that can be understood by people with different backgrounds”, she says.

“Studying STEM subjects gives you great future employability with a choice of diverse roles ranging from hands-on testing, building or designing products to supporting the sales or marketing team to ensure a technical message is communicated clearly.”

Also at Domino, which won the inaugural Employer of the Year title – sponsored by COEL – at the 2022 Cambridge Independent Science & Technology Awards is Natasha Jeremic, digital printing ink development manager, who studied for a degree in organic chemical technology and polymer engineering followed by a PhD in chemical engineering.

She says: “In my current role I enjoy watching our inks start their lives as an early stage concept and then improving, evolving and progressing until they graduate into the fully commercialised products that serve our customers and solve some practical issues for them.

“We need to change perception for engineering that it is a man’s world as it would be nothing without women.”

Also participating in the female-centric advocacy is Mariam Khalfey, data product owner, currently expanding her skillset with a secondment in the advanced services team in product management.

“I was interested in science at school and went on to study chemistry & molecular physics at university which set me up perfectly for becoming a chemist at Domino. I love my job because it’s varied and every day is different.

“As a company, I’ve found that Domino is incredibly supportive of career development and progression, always finding exciting opportunities such as collaborations with external bodies, or with other departments within the business.”

Also on board is Dr Josie Harries, group programme director, who joined Domino after completing her PhD in inorganic chemistry, since when she has specialised in product development.

“I believe that women have an essential role at all levels in STEM and must be supported throughout their careers to achieve their full potential,” she said. “The STEM environment often goes hand-in-hand with a masculine culture which women can find exclusionary. This reduces diversity of thought and hampers the problem-solving ability required for successful innovation.”

She added: “I am passionate about the introduction of novel technologies, delivery of new products and understanding the fundamental science and processes that sit behind all these activities. An important and enjoyable part of my job is coming up with new concepts and ideas to improve the business’s capabilities.

“I believe that women have an essential role at all levels in STEM and must be supported throughout their careers to achieve their full potential.

Rachel Hurst, chief operating officer, concluded: “The annual International Women in Engineering Day shines a light on successful female role models at different career stages to inspire more women and girls to believe they can do it too.

“I trained in manufacturing Engineering as I like problem-solving and feel good about making a difference. Manufacturing engineers take products from design into manufacture and ensure they meet market needs – it’s a great role to learn about a business and how it runs. Engineering doesn’t have to be male dominated and companies need to do more to be inclusive and inspire women to develop in technical subject areas.”