Guests attending the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend will be treated to a special surprise from McLaren, a one-off McLaren Artura in all the colors of the rainbow, and it has nothing to do with Pride Month.
Today, June 23, 2022, the world celebrates the International Women in Engineering Day, which gave the British supercar maker the perfect opportunity to celebrate women’s contribution in the field of engineering with this special, multi-colored art car.
The supercar’s colorful design was created in collaboration with Plan International, so it also celebrates the first anniversary of McLaren’s partnership with the children’s rights charity.
One of the women McLaren intends to celebrate for her contribution in engineering is Ella Podmore, a materials scientist who worked on the company’s latest hybrid supercar, the Artura model.
McLaren and Plan International recently conducted a study to determine what impact female role models have on young girls who want to pursue a career in engineering. Said research found that a whopping 75% of girls are interested in engineering careers, a field that is mostly dominated by men at the moment. Additionally, the study revealed that 24% of girls doubt their ability to study and pursue science, technology, and engineering careers.
During the kaleidoscope-like car’s unveiling, Mandeep Dhatt, Executive Director of HR, McLaren Automotive, said, "International Women in Engineering Day is vital to help focus attention on the importance of encouraging our young people to explore pursuing STEM educational and career options that are open to them. Yet the study jointly commissioned with Plan International shows that we have no room for complacency in smashing negative and persistent gender stereotypes that can hold our young people back."
As such, McLaren has already started to organize skills-based educational workshops, and pledges to offer 1,000 girls the opportunity to take part by 2025.
The first educational workshop was hosted by Ella Podmore herself, who has a degree in materials engineering and was named 2021 Young Woman Engineer of the Year by the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is taking place between June 23-26 and McLaren already unveiled its new Artura GT4 racer before the FoS premiere.
The supercar’s colorful design was created in collaboration with Plan International, so it also celebrates the first anniversary of McLaren’s partnership with the children’s rights charity.
One of the women McLaren intends to celebrate for her contribution in engineering is Ella Podmore, a materials scientist who worked on the company’s latest hybrid supercar, the Artura model.
McLaren and Plan International recently conducted a study to determine what impact female role models have on young girls who want to pursue a career in engineering. Said research found that a whopping 75% of girls are interested in engineering careers, a field that is mostly dominated by men at the moment. Additionally, the study revealed that 24% of girls doubt their ability to study and pursue science, technology, and engineering careers.
During the kaleidoscope-like car’s unveiling, Mandeep Dhatt, Executive Director of HR, McLaren Automotive, said, "International Women in Engineering Day is vital to help focus attention on the importance of encouraging our young people to explore pursuing STEM educational and career options that are open to them. Yet the study jointly commissioned with Plan International shows that we have no room for complacency in smashing negative and persistent gender stereotypes that can hold our young people back."
As such, McLaren has already started to organize skills-based educational workshops, and pledges to offer 1,000 girls the opportunity to take part by 2025.
The first educational workshop was hosted by Ella Podmore herself, who has a degree in materials engineering and was named 2021 Young Woman Engineer of the Year by the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is taking place between June 23-26 and McLaren already unveiled its new Artura GT4 racer before the FoS premiere.