It would be important for all schools of all levels to be able to participate in Engineers' Day with activities, testimonials, visits or in-depth studies.

Nicoletta Tesio's answers about Engineers' Day.

When and in what context did you first hear about Engineers' Day? 
I first heard about the Day in 2018 on the occasion of the first edition. An invitation came from SUPSI management to check out the initiative's website.

Your school is participating in Engineers? Day as a donor for the second time. Why are you involved in this event?
SUPSI participates in this Day for the second consecutive year. 
I am a civil engineer and for years I have also held the role of contact person for the Department of Environment, Construction and Design (DACD) of SUPSI for the project Promtec (Promotion of technical professions from a gender perspective). For 20 years Promtec has been promoted by the Gender and Diversity Service of SUPSI, in close collaboration with the DACD, the Department of Innovative Technologies (DTI) and in partnership with the School of Arts and Crafts of Trevano (SAMT).From this year, the Engineers' Day has been included as a new proposal within Promtec, which aims to promote and disseminate the interesting professional perspectives of engineering, eradicating the prejudices that hinder girls in their choice of technical fields.

What goals of Engineers' Day would you highlight as the most important priority in relation to your involvement in Engineers' Day or in your daily life?
I think the priority is to promote dialogue and get out there and that will allow us to foster the next generation of engineers and engineers. The girls and boys to whom we address our proposals and initiatives often and often do not know these professions, they have no idea how much each of their daily activities, the environment in which they live, the structures and the landscape that surrounds them, are closely related to the work of many engineers specialized in different disciplines. 

Why do you think engineers and their achievements are not perceived enough in everyday life and what can engineers do about it?  
There is a kind of basic prejudice that precludes many people from being intrigued by the engineering profession and its activities. 
There is probably a lot of work to be done on multiple levels. You need to work with children and young people, sometimes even teachers themselves, showing them that science disciplines can be as simple or as complicated as the humanities. And, just as importantly, that these disciplines have no gender, just like the professions they will choose. That's why the cultural and social context around us is crucial: we must work to eliminate wage disparities, value skills, and foster the same conditions and opportunities for career development for all people.

If you had a wish to be able to influence the promotion of young talent even more, to whom would it be addressed and what would this wish be?
I would address the wish to families and educators/teachers. There are so many boys and girls who are talented and have excellent skills. It would be enough to leave them the freedom to direct their passions and interests, in a conscious way, having had the opportunity to discover and learn, being able to choose without conditioning what really interests them. 

Do you have another wish in relation to Engineers' Day?
It would be important if all schools, of all levels, could participate in the Engineers' Day with activities, testimonials, visits or in-depth studies to raise awareness of the many facets and career prospects of this beautiful profession.

Every year, on March 4, UNESCO's Engineers' Day and World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development take place with countless events on the engineering professions.

Further information: supsi.