Women’s Fund backs engineers of the future
Published on 15 May, 2026
A grant from the Waikato Women’s Fund giving circle has opened the door to an engineering career for dozens of young wāhine.
Te Kura Mata-Ao School of Engineering at the University of Waikato invited 30 female year-twelve-and-thirteen high school students to its first-ever ‘SheENG’, a free three-day vocational event held in January.
A 2025 grant from the Waikato Women’s Fund at Momentum Waikato Community Foundation covered transport costs for every student that needed it, with the rest helping to pay for food and accommodation for all the attendees.
Janine Williams, School Manager School of Engineering, says SheENG was a huge success, with some “phenomenal and incredibly rewarding” feedback received from the teens.
“While our goal is to promote engineering at Waikato, the underlying effort is to generally encourage young women into ‘STEM’ – Science Technology Engineering Maths – and foster ongoing relationships and build a wider network of women considering going into STEM study at tertiary level,” says Janine.
The appreciation is shown in a letter from Maioha Drisana.
“After coming home on a high and finally being able to decompress and gather thoughts, the girls and I wanted to take a moment to express our deepest gratitude to each and every one of you for the incredible experience you created for us,” said Maioha.
“The SheENG initiative has been so much more than just a programme, it has been an opportunity to discover, to grow, and to see what’s truly possible in the field of engineering and mata-āo.”
“Every word of encouragement, every practical insight, and every shared experience has left an imprint. You have given us more than knowledge — you’ve given us the assurance that we belong here, and the motivation to keep reaching higher.”
The students’ feedback forms detail the SheENG activities that left an impression with them.
“The industry night was really good as it helped me understand what it would be like to be a woman in engineering.”
“I enjoyed experimenting in the lab for the soap and putting different materials together to create the soap. And I enjoyed designing the rocket and seeing how our ideals worked out in the launch.”
“I enjoyed the mechatronics activity. It was challenging and hard when it didn't work, but very rewarding when we finally got it going.”
Janine says the success of this inaugural gathering means next year they will offer the SheENG opportunity to 64 young women.
“As well as introducing the participants to our female engineering students, we intend to give them an opportunity to take part in industry-lead workshops centred around women in STEM and leadership.
“We will also invite back some of this year’s cohort in a leadership capacity. Through giving the young women a group to lead, we are hoping our ‘Leaders in Training’ (LIT) module will give them additional life skills and confidence as they enter the wider world and tertiary level study,” says Janine.
That offer has been readily taken up by a number of the January attendees.
“I want to be a SheENG LIT because the January 2026 event was a turning point for me, and I feel a real responsibility to pay that experience forward.”
“I would love to use this opportunity to develop my leadership skills and help create an environment where other girls can feel confident to take on challenges and explore engineering.”
“Being part of the 2027 programme would allow me to give back to a community that helped shape my goals and continue growing as a future engineer and leader."
The Waikato Women’s Fund is an endowment fund at Momentum Waikato Community Foundation being built by a giving circle of donor-members who want to empower Waikato women and girls now and for future generations.
As well as SheENG, in 2025 the WWF gave grants to Insight Endometriosis Charitable Trust, Waikato Arab Social Club Retreat for Women and Girls and Thrive Otorohanga Youth Trust.
Find out more about being a donor-member of the Waikato Women’s Fund at momentumwaikato.nz/waikatowomensfund.
