Tata Steel successfully concluded season 5 of its pioneering scholarship programme ‘Women Of Mettle’ which is an initiative to promote and induct women into the manufacturing sector. The virtual finale was held on September 13, 2021, and saw participation from some of the brightest young female candidates from India’s leading engineering institutes.
An electrical engineering student from IIEST Shibpur, Aishwarya Raj, emerged as the winner. The first runner up position was secured by Mridhula Venkatanarayanan, a metallurgical engineering student from NIT Trichy. The second runner up was Khushboo Kuntal, a Mining student from IITISM Dhanbad.
“Tata Steel has always believed in creating equal opportunities for all. The scholarship initiative ‘Women Of Mettle’ was conceptualised to attract talented women to a sector which is stereotyped as male dominated for decades. Each of these young minds is a part of this revolutionary journey who will inspire many more in the future to explore jobs in various unconventional fields. I congratulate all the winners and participants and wish them the very best for their careers ahead,” said Atrayee Sanyal, Vice President, Human Resource Management, Tata Steel.
D.B Sundara Ramam, Vice President, Raw Materials, Tata Steel and a finale Jury member, said: “ Every year we put forth specially curated real life technical problems and it is awe-inspiring to see the enthusiasm from young students who have such innovative and enterprising ideas. Steel as one of the core industries in the country will benefit hugely with equal contributions from women as well. We look forward to enabling many more women of mettle in future through our multiple initiatives and platforms.”
In this programme, participants are subjected to a meticulous selection procedure that includes several technical hurdles. The candidates deal with real life technical problems and top 10 shortlists work and present their solutions to the respected Jury at the grand finale of the competition. Presentations, feasibility and quality of the proposed solutions are the criteria upon which the winners are selected. The top 10 candidates get a scholarship of ₹2,00,000/- and an opportunity to work with Tata Steel.
Last year also the competition was organised virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The platform has evolved over the years serving as a stepping stone for women engineers in their journey of making a fruitful career in manufacturing.
