On June 25, 2026, the event “INGQueens – Women Engineers in Transition: A Look Back, Insights, and Outlook” brought together different generations of women engineers and transformed the Bentonite Lab into a hub for inspiration, exchange, and empowerment.

Numerous members and alumni of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering gathered to celebrate a special anniversary: the 40th anniversary of the doctoral dissertation of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrike Kuhlmann, Germany’s first female professor of structural steel engineering. The event also marked the end of this year's BreakING mentoring program, with the mentees taking the stage to give a brief summary of their personal experiences.
The event received support from the University Council and the faculty: Dr. Ricarda Brandts praised the project from the perspective of higher education policy, while Associate Dean Marc Wichern emphasized the indispensable importance of the “INGQueens” concept within the faculty in a speech full of appreciation. 

Following a personal tribute to Prof. Kuhlmann by Professor Natalie Stranghöner (a longtime colleague and professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen) and a speech by Prof. Kuhlmann herself, various participants discussed academic studies, everyday university life, and career development from women’s perspectives—in the past, present, and future. The panel discussion featuring Ulrike Kuhlmann included Natalie Stranghöner, Ricarda Brandts, Cornelia Kalender (postdoc), and Britta Schößer (postdoc), and was moderated by Katinka Netzer from the RUB Writing Center.

At the same time, an exhibition showcased the career paths of female scientists Cornelia Kalender, Nina Krautgartner, Rebecca Winkler, Nina Nytus, Marlena Block, and Jessica Steinjan. Photos paired with illustrations of the featured academics’ career paths impressively demonstrated how they have shaped the fields of civil and environmental engineering. The exhibition will be on display on various floors of the IC building over the next few weeks.

To accompany the exhibition, the INGQueens podcast can be listened to on the website and on Spotify.
Further information about the project and the podcasts can be found here.