WIA : About : History

A word from our President and Chair

I am very excited to introduce this new professional association: Women in Aerospace Europe. I am honoured to have been asked to be the President of WIA Europe; an office I am very proud to accept. I believe strongly in the benefits of diversity in aerospace and today mark a real milestone in such and endeavour.

Why WIA Europe:

Through my professional experience and career, I have met many highly skilled, female engineers, scientists, managers, technicians and so on in the aerospace field and realised that there was no networking platform available for them. I realised there is a need for an association dedicated to expand women's opportunities for leadership and to increase their visibility in the aerospace community. And this is the reason why WIA Europe has come into existence; I have always been aware of how effective and popular WIA has been since its foundation 20 years ago in the USA and it only made sense to use this model here.

As a woman, as a scientist, as a professional individual with over 20 years of experience in this field, and in my privileged position as Director of Human Spaceflight at the European Space Agency I felt it was important to have an association representing European women on a global level, one they could identify with. As such I am proud and looking forward very much to fulfil my role as president of WIA Europe.

I would like to emphasize strongly that WIA Europe has come into existence through tight and fruitful coordination and cooperation with WIA USA and that we are working very closely in the overall process and will continue to do so in the future. Following their example, a small group of visionary and engaged women in Europe have come up with the idea of WIA Europe including myself and Claudia Kessler.

Our membership, women and men, share an interest in a broad spectrum of aerospace issues including human spaceflight, aviation, remote sensing, satellite communication, robotic space exploration, commercial space and space tourism. Our goal is to reach out to various potential members both at corporate and individual level from industries, research institutes, other associations, academic entities, national agencies, etc.

This is just the start and we looking forward very much to welcome more members and sponsors.

Simonetta di Pippo

WIA-Europe President

First of all let me thank you for all the support we received so far.

I know a lot of good female aerospace engineers in Europe but only very few make into top positions. To better connect all these women and to enhance the exchange of their experience we, Simona and myself, felt the need to create an association for Women in Aerospace in Europe. We both have a lot of friends and colleagues in the US, who engage themselves strongly in Women in Aerospace in the US. Thus we wanted to start a similar organisation in Europe. Since we share the same mission and goals as Women in Aerospace in the US it was only natural for us to do it in a joint effort.

And once we decided to do it, it took us only 3 month to come to here today and to announce the foundation of women in aerospace in Europe. During that time we worked very closely with our friends in the US setting up the European organisation. Already this experience proofed how good it is to have such a network established.

What the association will offer to women working in the Aerospace sector is first of all a networking platform to exchange experiences and ideas. But it will be much more than that:

it will help to study, and solve, the problems still faced by women in the aerospace profession; we will cooperate for the improvement of the position of women in the aerospace profession; but we will also be an ambassador for Space in Society, Culture and Philosophy, areas in which women often are much better connected than their male colleagues. We will promote and honour outstanding work of women in technology, science and society through awards and honorary memberships.

And finally:

We will advance aerospace education in schools and university, especially focusing on female students. Women in Aerospace in Europe is just a first step to a global organization. We want to connect women working in aerospace and technology all around this planet, from the America to Australia and from Asia to Africa.

With the emerging space nations like China and India global space exploration will have a different look in the future and women will play an equal part in it.

Claudia Kessler

Chair