International Women's Day 2022

We wish a Happy International Women’s Day to all the brilliant womxn at WaveOptics and those of our customers and suppliers!

We are conscious of the need to continue improving our diversity so this year we will be shining the spotlight on a few of our team across Research, Development and Engineering.

“I am proud to be a Process Engineer in the Waveguide Development team, working on the back-end process of waveguide assembly. My work currently focuses on the improvement and optimisation of the stacking and edge blackening to enable our genius designed AR lens to exhibit its full potential.

I enjoy working in this dynamic and inclusive environment, with friendly and knowledgeable colleagues. I hope we can do more to support the young female generation in science and technology, and bring more female engineers on board.

Thanks a lot to WaveOptics and Snap Inc. for providing us with such a nice workplace where difference is valued and celebrated. #BreakTheBias.”

“I am involved in the design and research of the novel nanostructures that form part of our ARdisplays. In addition to the people I am working with, one of my favourite parts about my job is seeing new ideas come to life, from the simulation stage to new prototypes. The year ahead is particularly exciting with respect to innovation, since we have more freedom to explore new technologies.

This obviously implies a very fast paced and dynamic environment, which appeared very intimidating for me at the beginning, as I was starting my first job in industry after my PhD degree. But I was welcomed by an open team that encouraged me to evolve and valued my input.  For me, feeling comfortable to speak up is the key ingredient to #breakthebias.”

“My job is to build and test new products. I work closely with other teams to take products from the design stage to build and test, assessing their manufacturability before they can be released to mass manufacture.. we are constantly having to overcome challenges and issues in a fast paced environment and this excites and motivates me…

I am currently studying for a mechanical engineering degree, working at WaveOptics helps me to put what I learn in my studies into a real life example… My job allows me to be at the forefront of new technology and I am excited to see the improvements that will be made in the coming year…

As a 16 year old applying for engineering apprenticeships I was well aware that I was going against the stereotype and being constantly reminded of this fact by everyone involved made it a much more daunting and scary prospect. I think rather than advertising ‘women in engineering’, explaining how exciting and great engineering is, to school aged people of both genders would do much more. Hearing this from people like myself and Rebecca Cook would then help encourage more women into an engineering job instead of intimidating them by basically telling them that they’ll struggle to be accepted before they’ve even tried.”

“I’m involved in testing our products and building and maintaining the test stations. It’s been nearly a year since I joined WaveOptics and I hope the coming year will bring as much novel and challenging work as the first did!

I think having a diverse group of inspiring women like we do at WaveOptics is important for “breaking the bias” – it’s about representation and bringing different voices to the table.

It’s important to keep challenging bias where you encounter it.

I’m glad to say it’s been pretty rare in my 15 years of engineering, but we do still have this problem with the oddly low number of girls going into engineering. It just doesn’t seem to be a career that is suggested to girls very much, so mentorship, outreach programs and offering many different paths into engineering is needed to make it a real and attractive option”