INWED 2020 – Luany Dantas
Celebrating our female engineers
International Women in Engineering Day 2020 (INWED20) launches on the 23rd of June with the theme ‘Shape the World’. INWED, now in its seventh year, is a campaign that brings together engineers and their supporters from across the world, joining to raise awareness of the opportunities and achievements of women engineers.
At the AqualisBraemar group, which includes OWC, we wanted to take this opportunity to praise the excellent work our women engineers do across the globe and celebrate their efforts to shape our world into a better, safer, more innovative and exciting place to be.
Luany Dantas
Luany Dantas is a Naval Architect and Marine Engineer in our Rio de Janeiro office. Her duties include Vessel Stability and Inclining Tests, Anchoring and Tow Plans, Structural Engineering, Marine Warranty.
Why did you choose engineering? Were you inspired by someone?
When I was young, I was passionate about Formula 1. The first time I heard the word ‘Engineer’ was while watching F1, and I thought “I want to be an engineer because I want to fix things”. Later, I realised that I had the skills that would fit perfectly with a career in Engineering and that I could not only fix but also create things.
What is it like to be a woman in engineering? Do you feel that your gender gives you a different perspective and experience from your male counterparts? Any advantages?
Being a woman in engineering definitely comes with its challenges. Many times in the work environment, I find myself as the only female working/teamed up with male colleagues. Sometimes you have to make sure your voice is being heard, but I prefer to believe that I am valued and thought of as an engineer based on merit, not gender. I don’t believe I have had any advantage or disadvantage in my career because I was a woman.
What do you wake up looking forward to? What’s next for your career?
In Brazil, we are in the very early stages of developing an Offshore Wind market, but with very good potential. Therefore, I look forward to gaining as much experience as possible in Offshore Wind and hope to be able to work on assisting the growth of this sector in Brazil.
How has AqualisBraemar helped you grow?
During my time in AqualisBraemar, I’ve had many great opportunities and experiences. At AqualisBraemar, I always have the opportunity to go on-site and work on many different types of projects, which helps me increase my technical skills.
Being a Marine Engineer, I have mostly been working in the Oil and Gas sector. Last year I finished my Master’s degree, where I had the chance to develop a thesis related to Offshore Wind, and OWC offered me the opportunity for a secondment in the London office. It was an incredible experience where I was able to shadow and work closely with the OWC team and got first-hand experience in offshore wind projects.