International Women in Engineering Day 2026

On International Women in Engineering Day 2026, we celebrate women engineers across the world and at REMAP, we’re proud to spotlight one of our exceptionally skilled volunteers, Teiba Ahmed.

In her own words, Teiba reflects on her journey into engineering and why representation in the field matters:

I’ve been volunteering with REMAP for over two years now (and three house moves!). I currently volunteer across two REMAP panels – Hertfordshire North and Essex. Alongside this, I work as a mechanical engineer at a medical device consultancy in Cambridge, having studied Product Design Engineering (MEng) at Loughborough University. My role focuses on the design and development of medical devices, alongside hands-on prototyping, testing, and user-centred design, which strongly complements the nature of REMAP projects.

Like many women in engineering, there are moments where you become aware of being in the minority.

At university, I often found myself being the only woman in group projects, with around 20% of my course made up of women. Growing up, I didn’t have female engineering role models, which meant pursuing engineering wasn’t something I naturally considered early on.

Even in the professional world, there are still relatively few women engineers in senior positions. However, you can clearly see the shift happening, and over time I’m confident we will continue to see more and more women progressing into senior and leadership roles.

Engineering benefits from diverse perspectives. Different ways of thinking lead to better, more inclusive solutions – particularly when designing products that are used by a wide range of people.

In fields like medical devices, where understanding real user needs is critical, representation really matters. If we don’t consider human factors, usability, and real-world behaviours, even the most technically advanced product can fall short. Encouraging more women into engineering helps ensure the profession reflects the people it serves, leading to better, more intuitive designs for everyone.

Volunteering with REMAP is incredibly fulfilling.

In my day job designing medical devices, projects can be long-term and may not always reach the market into a users hands, whereas REMAP allows you to see the impact of your work immediately and directly improve someone’s life.

Inspired by Teiba’s story? Join our volunteer community and help us continue making things possible: Find out more.