“Knowledge is power, but knowing people is even more powerful.” With this adage, a personal favorite of her father, chair of the technical women committee 22/23 Mila van Bokhoven opens the dinner. The goal she shares with her four fellow committee members links up perfectly. “We want to hear stories from women who are in different phases in their careers but already have a wealth of experience in the technical world. There are still too few women working in technology and this needs to change.” She encourages those attending the dinner to ask as many questions as they can to the seven invited women professionals. “This is your chance.”

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But before the questions can be put to the invitees over an appetizer of scallops and artichoke in a parsnip cream, there’s a lecture by Maud Savelsbergh. She studied Technology Management at the Department of the Built Environment and, after working in different sectors for twenty years, now holds a position as strategic advisor at Draaijer. About her student days, she says: “If I wanted to send an email, I had to walk over to the Computing Center (currently Neuron, ed.).” It was special working as a woman in a male-dominated world, but not in a bad way. “I actually enjoyed it.”

The two other speeches are by Justine Pillay, a business development executive from South-Africa, and Esther Onnink, a technical officer at the Royal Netherlands Army. Pillay gives the audience some tips: “Know what you want, develop your soft skills, find a mentor and be yourself.” Onnink adds some advice of her own: “Don’t let anyone tell you there’s something you can’t do. Face them heads-on. That’s what I did.”

Be yourself

Not all SSRE women are ready for this. At one of the tables, Emma Ambags (working her first job at Datacation after completing the OML Master of Science at TU/e) is asked an existential question. “How do you know what you want? I struggle with that a lot,” an ID student wonders. Over at the next table, alumna Martine Pelser (Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences) shares a few relevant tips, while enjoying a slice of meat with mixed vegetables. “Be yourself. Ask yourself if you played a part or if you were authentic after everything you do. I still do that, and I definitely will when I come home tonight.”

Van Bokhoven is praised for her natural way of presenting. She says she’s learnt a whole lot from organizing this dinner. “When we started my LinkedIn network consisted of five family members. Ever since we started looking for women speakers for this event, I’ve made many new connections. And everyone’s really eager to help, so next year the event will be even bigger.”