Zonta Club of Ludvika-Smedjebacken inspires young girls to envision a future in tech

The Zonta Club of Ludvika-Smedjebacken, Sweden, organized an inspirational event to encourage local high school girls to continue their studies and envision a future in technology.

The club started the evening by mingling with the students and providing refreshments before premiering a documentary film about the club and its work. The film was a school project by one of the students. After the film, the club invited Sonja Berlijn, a professor and head of the Royal Institute of Technology, for a passionate talk.

Sonja, a local of Ludvika, has worked extensively at the Swedish Transmission Research Institute. To the students, she talked about the importance of choosing a path based on one's interest because that interest will serve as motivation to continue. She urged the students to take the change when it presents itself and step forward and help themselves. Furthermore, Sonja highlighted the importance of more girls daring to choose the engineering path to get a broader perspective and more innovative solutions for future development. With women in technology, we can take advantage of essential aspects and angles. Research shows that climate change affects women more than men, so Sonja believes women must also be involved and contribute more to future solutions.

The club also invited Samira Abbasinejad, a Hitachi Energy -HVDC manager, to speak about her journey. Born in Iran, Samira talked about how she came to Sweden, what it is like to be a women worker at her company and what future opportunities Hitachi can offer in the future.