The day, which is led by the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), aims to make the UK’s engineers more visible.

Canon UK manages a team of over 280 field-based engineers, who work around the clock to repair, maintain, and optimise customers’ devices and workflows.

The team help to keep customers’ businesses running smoothly and play a central role in building customer relationships. 94% of customers were happy with the work that Canon engineers carried out directly at their premises in 2022.

Explaining her role, Ciara Fullam, system service engineer at Canon, said: “My core role is a service systems engineer within the Northern Ireland Service Team where I work across our fleet of printers installing, fixing and maintaining devices from small desktop i-Sensys devices to our commercial inkjet VarioPrint iX devices.

“I’m also the go to person for troubleshooting and supporting escalations from other members of my team when needed.

“I work on associated controller systems such as Fiery and Prisma for job workflow and colour management. I’ve also recently teamed up with our business development team to explore new opportunities for growth locally.”

She added: “One of the challenges I’ve faced in my career is dealing with the assumption that, as a woman, I couldn’t possibly be an engineer.

“It’s disheartening when customers assume over the phone that I’m not the one coming to fix their problem, or when within the notes for a particular job that the engineer will handle something when ‘he’ arrives.

“On a personal level, living with thyroid cancer has also been challenging. It can be frustrating, especially when it affects my emotions or makes it harder to retain numbers. These experiences have definitely shaped me both as a person and an engineer, teaching me resilience and patience.”

Offering advice to young women starting their careers in engineering, Fullam added: “Don’t be intimidated. You might be the only woman in the room – make yourself heard. You have every right to be there and are just as capable as every other person in the room. Show them what you can do.

“Casual sexism is still something we need to address. Just because there’s a woman in a room full of men doesn’t mean she’s there to take the minutes or make the tea. Women deserve equal respect to men and not to ever be made to feel like their achievements are based on anything other than their own merit.”

Nicola Johnson, HR people development manager at Canon, commented on the role that educational initiatives play in creating more opportunities for women in engineering.

“It’s encouraging that we now see more educational initiatives for young women in the STEM subjects, opening up career opportunities in traditionally male dominated fields.

“As a parent of two teenage girls, I’ve been really pleased to see the doors that are now open. Recently, my 13-year-old had the chance to join a ‘Girls in Tech’ event, organised by her school. And later this year, when my 16-year-old starts Sixth Form College, she’ll have the option to join a ‘Women in STEM’ group that has become much more popular in recent years.

“Initiatives like these are so important in showing young girls that they can pursue any career they choose, without being limited by gender. Representation from those already working in these fields, like Ciara, is so important in demonstrating what’s possible and inspiring the next generation.”

Kathryn Scott, HR director at Canon, said the business was taking steps to encourage more women to enter the industry and support them throughout their careers.

“At Canon, we’re extremely keen to encourage more women into the industry and support them through their careers by having an inclusive culture. We put huge importance on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and this is an area where we’re continuing to make improvements in how we attract more diverse colleagues to come and work with us at Canon.

“We’ve recently launched a Women’s Network, whose purpose is to create ‘a safe environment for women at Canon UK & Ireland to share, collaborate, inspire, develop and empower each other’.

“It’s important to us that we break down stereotypes and create a working environment where everyone is enabled to thrive.”