International Women’s Day - Jennifer Bruton

One such example of the power of opportunity is Associate Professor Jennifer Bruton, herself a DCU alumnus and inspiring academic in the STEM field. Jennifer is the current Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Computing in DCU and a member of the Senior Management Group of the University. She completed her BEng in Electronic Engineering at DCU in 1992 and has pioneered innovation in Teaching and Learning in STEM at the university ever since.

Jennifer, who grew up in Raheny, was inspired by one of her school friends to participate in an engineering workshop at DCU (then known as NIHE). The workshop consisted of applying physics and maths to solve real-world problems and it was here that her desire to study Electronic Engineering was ignited. She was the first person in her extended family to go to university and the second on the street where she grew up.

Following the attainment of her degree, Jennifer developed a love of teaching and a parallel mission to use technology to move learning and education into a new era. In this spirit, she was intrinsic to designing some of the first online Masters modules pioneered by DCU in the early 1990s and helped to establish the School of Electronic Engineering as the first in DCU to use email, put modules online and implement computer-based exams for students.

Thereafter, Jennifer rose to positions of leadership in the University, including that of Associate Dean for Education, Head of School of Electronic Engineering, Chair of Disciplinary Committee, and now Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Computing.  The fundamental importance of the promotion of STEM to young women and girls, however, remains a guiding passion and Jennifer continues to apply her talents to encourage more school students to consider engineering as an option.

For many years I coordinated the workshops for young women that my friend had originally attended, the one that had inspired me to study engineering.

My involvement in the STEPS initiative run by Engineers Ireland has been focussed on promoting engineering as a career and I am a member of IEEE Women in Engineering (https://wie.ieee.org/). More recently I am delighted to have been involved in the Irish Girl Guides FIRST Lego League (https://fll.learnit.ie/), sharing my keen interest in women in STEM to students in DCU who have volunteered to act as guides, judges, and role models.  It is both exciting and heartwarming to see young girls so captivated by and engaged with technology; they and other young women in engineering  are an important key to a better future and will bring a richness to STEM that is essential, powerful, and inspiring”.

To learn more about women in STEM please visit: https://womenonwalls.com/