The mentoring program for female Master's students at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering BreakING entered its third round with a successful kick-off event on 10 October 2024.

The kick-off was the first of several network meetings with the aim of bringing female Master's students into contact with experienced mentors. “Career women are not born. Success requires hard work, courage, passion and perseverance.” With these words, Dr.-Ing. Britta Schößer, the initiator of the BreakING mentoring program and decentralized Equal Opportunities Officer of the Faculty, opened the event and thus gave the starting signal for another year full of exchange, learning and personal development.

As the central Equal Opportunities Officer, Dr. Wanda Gerding had particularly motivating words for the mentees of the third BreakING round. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marc Wichern, Dean of the Faculty, also emphasized how important it is to promote the potential of prospective female engineers and praised the gender equality work within the framework of BreakING.

The highlight of the kick-off event was the keynote speech by Prof.'in Dr.-Ing. Johanna Waimann, who has held the Chair of Mechanics - Materials Theory since April 1, 2024. In her lecture, she gave insights into her own career history and spoke openly about the challenges she faced in a male-dominated field of work. Afterwards, the mentees had the opportunity to talk to the mentors in smaller groups, discuss professional challenges and receive valuable initial tips.

This year's mentors of the BreakING program are three female engineers with completely different career paths: Dipl.-Ing. Rukiye Mengü, tunnel construction manager at Wayss & Freytag AG and alumna of the Faculty, brings her extensive experience in civil engineering to the table. Dipl.-Ing. Monika Grünewald, Vice President Sales Global at Flowserve Corp., is one of the first mentors at RUB and has several years of experience in mentoring. Dr.-Ing. Katrin Brömme, project engineer at the engineering office delta h, completed her doctorate at the Faculty and shares her knowledge from research and practice.