Women’s Month: Stepping forward and assuming leadership

The Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment (EBE) dean, Professor Alison Lewis, has called it a “big honour” being elected to serve as a member of the private, independent, non-profit institution – the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

It is another feather in Professor Lewis’ cap and recognises her immense role in the discipline. It also serves as a significant moment for women in engineering leadership, underscoring the importance of female representation in international leadership bodies.

The academy membership honours Lewis for her contributions to crystallisation processes for saline water treatment and extraction metallurgy, along with her leadership in engineering education. The NAE has more than 2 000 peer-elected members and international members, as well as senior professionals in business, academia, and government who are among the world’s most accomplished engineers.

“In my view, the academy is significant because it explicitly promotes engineers to provide leadership and expertise – not just in technical fields, but more broadly. Engineers are often reluctant to step forward and assume leadership, but I think that they have excellent skills and could contribute more to this sphere,” said Lewis.

“Engineering needs both women and men to be able to contribute meaningfully and effectively to society.”

She will formally be inducted into the NAE at the annual meeting, which will be held on 29 September 2024. “The NAE has in its mission ‘provide engineering leadership to the service of the nation’; I would like to see this broadened to encompass a more global view. As an African member, my voice will be to extend the mission of the NAE beyond its borders.”

Changes

As a leader of a faculty, Lewis has observed changes within the discipline. “Engineering has changed from being very technocentric and ‘apolitical’ to being much more socially and environmentally conscious, as well as being more attractive to a much more diverse range of students who want to make a difference in the world.

“I have focused on transformation during my tenure, and, during that time, the profile of our staff has changed significantly. I started in 2015 at the same time as UCT, entered a few years of sequential crises. So, I suppose that one of the characteristics my faculty developed during that time was extreme resilience.”

She added: “Currently, we are regaining our stability and optimism after many years of challenges and upheaval. Our forward-looking and future-fit projects include crass faculty curriculum revision. This project will update and renew our current offerings, rethinking them so that they have a more holistic approach and a greater emphasis on sustainability, social responsiveness as well as cutting edge developments in AI [artificial intelligence] and data designs.”

For Women’s Month, Lewis said: “Engineering needs both women and men to be able to contribute meaningfully and effectively to society. To women, I would like to say: come to EBE! We have so much to offer you – a cutting-edge degree that will be intellectually challenging and enable you to contribute at the highest level. To men, come to EBE! We need all of you to make a difference.”