Yvonne Groth

Dipl.-Ing. Yvonne Groth was honored with the Engineer Woman Award at the opening ceremony of the FEMWORX Career Congress. An independent jury consisting of the members of the FEMWORX Congress Advisory Board had previously nominated four female experts for this prestigious prize.

The winner was honored on April 25 at the opening of the FEMWORX Career Congress. Dr. Kathrin Rüschenschmidt, Director Innovation Process & PMO at Emerson and member of the FEMWORX Advisory Board, presented the award as a member of the jury. Every year at HANNOVER MESSE, Deutsche Messe presents the Engineer Woman Award to a female expert who has made a special contribution to scientific and technical disciplines.

In Yvonne Groth, the jury selected a worthy recipient for the award. She studied agricultural sciences and environmental protection at the University of Rostock. In 2006, she joined the IBS Group as a project engineer; in 2015, she was appointed its Managing Director. She has been Managing Director of Dornier Construction und Service GmbH since 2022. In addition to her professional activities, Yvonne Groth has volunteered her time for the advancement of women for many years. Among other activities, she is involved in the cross-mentoring program 'Aufstieg in Unternehmen – Mentoring für Frauen in der Wirtschaft in M-V' aiming at career advancement and mentoring for women in companies in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. She is also a founder of the Welcome Center Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, a contact point not only for companies but also for women newly arriving in or returning to the Mecklenburg Lake District, with the aim of supporting recruitment, continuing employment, and retention of skilled workers. Furthermore, she arranges networking lunches for female executives in the corporate sector, and participates in a working group for academia/business collaboration.

Sahana Shastry

April 26 saw Sahana Shastry honored with the Young Engineer Woman Award at the FEMWORX Career Congress. An independent jury consisting of the members of the FEMWORX Congress Advisory Board selected her as the winner among three nominated female experts.

Sahana Shastry received her Master of Science in Space Sciences and Technologies from the University of Bremen last year. Since then, she has worked as a systems engineer at DSI Aerospace, focusing on mass storage systems for on-board electronics to support the expansion of ESA's Copernicus program. She also heads the Women in Aerospace Europe working group, in which she authored the white papers. This is where measures are being investigated and implemented to bridge the skills and gender gap in the aerospace industry. Sahana Shastry serves as an advisory member and COO for the student rocket and space group ASTRA e.V. from Bremen in her free time. She is also co-author of the chapter on EDI promoting the new spaceflight economy in the Oxford Handbook of New Space Economy.