Celebrating 10 Years of the Liverpool Women in Science and Engineering Network

Posted on: 7 November 2024 by Butul Taufik (Civil Engineering 2014) in 2024

The Liverpool Women in Science and Engineering (LivWiSE) Network celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2024. Established to support women in STEM at the University of Liverpool, LivWiSE has grown into a network that connects, empowers, and celebrates women in science and engineering. To commemorate this milestone, LivWiSE invites graduates to participate in celebratory events, share their career journeys as role models, and help inspire the next generation of women in STEM.

Read on to hear from LivWiSE alumna Butul Taufik about her STEM career journey and discover ways to get involved in LivWiSE’s 10th-anniversary celebrations.

Butul graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2013 with a master’s in Civil Engineering. Starting out in engineering, Butul quickly transitioned to finance, joining an investment bank as an FX Options Trader—a role that led to exciting opportunities across Dubai, Vietnam, Singapore, China, Jordan, and finally back to London.

Now based in London’s financial sector, Butul combines global finance expertise with a passion for giving back. Leveraging engineering skills to design and fundraise, Butul helps build libraries in underserved communities and serves as an ambassador for international youth programs and governance networks, promoting education and leadership worldwide, also promoting STEM.

What inspired you to choose and study your degree subject?

I chose A-levels based on subjects I enjoyed, figuring that passion would keep me motivated to study, Engineering wasn’t even on my radar, despite my love for creativity, maths, and physics, until two women engineers visited our school. Their talk opened my eyes to engineering as a creative, challenging field that fit my interests perfectly—and showed me it was a space for women too.

What key skills did you learn at university? 

At university, I first and foremost learned how to connect and communicate with all kinds of people. It was intense yet enjoyable, exposing me to diverse customs, cultures, and educational backgrounds from around the world. I also learned to balance my time, making space for what I enjoy while staying on top of my studies. Most importantly, I discovered a lot about myself—what I’m passionate about and where my strengths lie.

What jobs have you had during your career?

I’m a senior analyst at an insurance company, where I get to combine my maths and computer skills with the attention to detail, I developed while studying engineering. I really enjoy that the role also has a strong people element—I work with a variety of companies and teams, which keeps things interesting and dynamic.

What is your current job and what do you enjoy about it?

I am a With-Profit Fund Expert. 

What has been your most exciting project or career role?

Outside of work, one of my most rewarding projects has been designing and building libraries in underserved areas. With friends, I co-founded an NGO to raise funds and build libraries internationally, supporting literacy in deprived schools. I loved applying my engineering skills to bring these libraries to life and seeing the impact firsthand—especially watching kids explore computers for the first time and really dive into learning.

What are your top tips for working in your industry/sector?

A key tip for working in finance or any industry is to stay curious and always be willing to learn. The industry changes quickly, and the best way to grow is by keeping up with trends, learning new tools, and asking questions. Curiosity will keep you adaptable and ready to take on new challenges, which is invaluable. The latest trend for example being AI.

What is the best piece of advice you have received?

Change. People well-intentionally tell us ‘don’t ever change,’ but this is limiting when we are capable of so much.

Any advice you’d like to share?

My best advice is that it’s okay to change your path to reach your goals. We’re often told to stick to one road, but I’ve taken different routes many times—from my school subjects to my degree choice, to a career that goes beyond my studies. Even within my work, I’ve shifted directions more than once. The world is full of possibilities, and we shouldn’t limit ourselves to just one path.

Why are you passionate about your subject/career/STEM?

I’m passionate about encouraging girls to pursue STEM, as growing up, it felt like everything fell into “blue” or “pink” categories. Even in my engineering program, I was one of only about five women in a class of 200. I want to help change that and make sure girls know that there are so many options available to us beyond those traditional boundaries. This is why I have done multiple talks and projects around this.

Join LivWiSE for an upcoming event

As they celebrate 10 years, LivWiSE invites members of the community to join them for upcoming events and initiatives to honour women in STEM. Join them on Thursday 14 November 2024 for a lively networking social open to staff, students, and alumni, you can book your tickets here. On Thursday 5 December 2024 they will also be hosting their annual Christmas talk with University of Liverpool guest speakers reflecting on LivWiSE’s achievements, you can book your tickets here.

Get involved

2024 marks the ten-year anniversary of LivWiSE (Liverpool Women in Science and Engineering). To celebrate this occasion, we are delighted to announce the launch of the LivWiSE Thank You Awards!
 
The LivWiSE Thank You Awards are an opportunity to celebrate women and non-binary contributions to STEMM and to thank the people and allies who have supported and promoted their work.
These awards are open to everyone. Whether you’re a student, academic, staff, alumni, teacher, technician, pupil, or work professionally with or in STEMM, we look forward to receiving your nomination.
 
Please nominate someone by completing our short nomination form or emailing livwise@liverpool.ac.uk with their name, email address and why you want to thank them.
Nominations are now open and close 5pm Tuesday, 3 December 2024.

The LivWiSE team are also excited to introduce a new LinkedIn page as a dedicated space for networking, mentorship, and updates.

Finally, we’d like to encourage alumni working in STEM to submit their own role model profiles like Butul’s. By sharing your story, achievements, and advice, you can inspire the next generation of women in STEM. Reach out to us if you’re interested in being featured!