Women engineers of the future get first look at Ford Fusion

London, 11 October

Distributed on behalf of Ford

Brentwood, England - Over 100 future women engineers will be finding out about Ford's latest concept car, the Fusion, at an annual engineering event, just for them.

The Women in Engineering event is being held for the fourth year at Britain's largest automotive engineering and design facility in the UK -- the Dunton Technical Centre in Essex.

Hosted by TV presenter Philippa Forester, the event brings together a wide range of engineers, designers and technicians within Ford to give female undergraduates and academics the latest information on the opportunities available to women in Ford.

As well as a look at the Fusion Concept, the first time the vehicle will have been seen in the UK, activities on the day include track events, hands-on technical exhibits and tours of Dunton's state of the art design and development facilities.

The event is supported by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Institution of Electrical Engineers and the Women's Engineering Society. Martin Leach, vice president, product development Ford of Europe and Malcolm Thomas, engineering director will be taking part.

Martin Leach said: "In order to keep moving forward, companies like Ford need bright, resourceful, innovative and dynamic people to join them. Ford wants to attract female engineers to the organisation. Engineering programme teams should reflect the diversity of our potential customer base as this is the most effective way of developing new, desirable products."

Sharing their experiences with the audience will be Ford's Next Generation group which has organised the event. This is a group of engineers within Ford which aims to promote engineering as an exciting and dynamic career, and encourage more women to take up a career in the automotive industry.

Ford product development engineer Sarah Haslam, who worked on both the Fusion Concept and the New Fiesta, said: "Engineering can be an immensely fulfilling career. I love the technical challenge of my job and because it's a practical discipline I get a lot of satisfaction from starting with a concept to watching a customer get into a car I helped develop and drive away."