To mark National Women in Engineering Day, Joanne Zalesinski (pictured right) — 600 UK’s educational sales representative — recently shared her experiences of working for the group with the female apprentices at Blackburn-based Training 2000.

The latter is a charitable trust set up by a consortium of Lancashire businesses to deliver work-based training programmes; it has a large number of female engineering students, who are all trained on Colchester lathes.

Joanne has worked at 600 UK (www.600uk.com) for over 10 years, initially with Pratt Burnerd International in Halifax, more recently with Colchester and Harrison lathes. She says: “I was really impressed by the level of knowledge that the Training 2000 students have of the engineering curriculum and by their use of the equipment at their disposal.

"My new role at 600 UK enables me to visit our many education-based customers, and it’s refreshing to know that the UK’s engineering talent is there for all to see.”

The National Women in Engineering Day is intended to raise the profile of women in engineering and celebrate their achievements. It is the brainchild of The Women’s Engineering Society, which was set up in 1919 by women who worked in technical roles during the First World War.