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Nadine Armstrong8 Mar 2018
NEWS

Gender equality and Romy Mayer

Supercar engineer Romy Mayer is smashing the status quo on International Women's Day

Women operating as exceptional leaders, role models and excelling in the automotive world is not a new phenomenon in Australia in 2018. Gender parity is.

In 2018, the International Women's Day #PressforProgress campaign urges everyone to continue to push for gender equality - not only in our workplaces but the whole community.

And to give you a taste of what that looks like, motoring.com.au talked to a woman who has not only challenged the status quo, but smashed the stereotypes and gender bias in the 'boys club' world of Supercars, Romy Mayer.

Romy Mayer during the 2017 Perth SuperSprint in Wanneroo
Just the one

Red Bull Holden Racing Team Data Engineer, Romy Mayer, was the only female to graduate with a degree in engineering from the Esslingen University of Applied Science in 2010. Mayer had always been good at maths and physics, but never imagined she'd end up an engineer - least of all working in motor sport.

"I went to study industrial engineering. Then after the first year I went for an [six month] internship at Daimler." recalls Mayer. It was this on-the-job experience that made Mayer realise she wanted to 'do what they were doing' and she started to study automotive engineering.

It was during Mayer's continued studies that her interest in motor sports grew.

Competing in the Formula Student Germany competition (akin to Formula SAE) where students build a single-seat formula race car and compete against other student teams from all over the world - Mayer's passion was realised.

"That got me hooked" she told motoring.com.au.

Romy at the 2017 Phillip Island 500

After graduating, Mayer applied for a role at HWA, which runs the Mercedes Deutsche Tourenwagon Masters (DTM) team and various Mercedes' Customer Sports projects.

Nailing that job, Mayer's motor sport career got well underway. Later roles saw Mayer on the development team for the new AMG GT3 car.

Then with five years under her belt, Mayer started to explore her options. Given her experience, there were many. Her dream of better weather and lifestyle ruled out Europe's motor sport offerings (predominantly located in Germany or England) and Australia was the next move.

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Team Down Under

Big on technology and comparable in standard with European key formulas, Mayer was drawn to Australia's Supercar series. In 2015, she applied to the Roland Dane owned, Triple Eight Race Engineering Red Bull squad; "And they accepted me!" she says.

As a member of the 30-strong Triple Eight team Mayer now travels the country with the Supercar circus, occasionally getting a glimpse of that better weather she was craving. But it's hard work, concedes Mayer.

"You've got to love your job because you spend a lot of time at work. It's not a job for me. It's a family. We travel and spend so much time together so you need to dedicate yourself to that." she says, adding that her team mates are like brothers and respect is high.

But it takes more than love to survive in Supercars.

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"You need to be able to work in stressful situations. Then there's the adrenalin [on top of that]… But you need to be able to focus and deliver."

Speaking about her team's most recent race [the season opener at Adelaide last weekend], Mayer talks about the variety of challenges that come with racing's high-pressure and high risk environment.

"On Friday qualifying we had a crash at 190km/h so we needed to rebuild that car overnight. We replaced almost the whole car. I got to bed at 4am and we were back at the track at 7am… with a full race weekend ahead! So concentration is needed, but it's also a physical challenge [at times]. It's intense." Mayer admits.

She continues to talk about the importance of being able to work though disappointment. Like when you're so close to that end reward and your gearbox fails… Exactly what happened with the new Commodore of Red Bull Holden's 2017 champ, Jamie Whincup at Adelaide last Sunday.

"You get back up and focus on the next race" she says.

On the other hand, there's a great level of instant gratification as a data engineer in such a face-paced environment.

"I can see something on a diagram, then the results of my decisions and my input can be seen right away" she says, commenting that mainstream auto engineers may have to wait months or years to see their engineering input come to life.

That'd be way too slow for the rate at which Mayer is used to operating.

And then there's Australia's coastline, Double Island Point north of the Sunshine Coast is a favourite for Mayer — who also admits to taking time for a sneaky surf before any Gold Coast race weekend commences.

When she's not working, a tent, a 4x4 and the ocean is all she needs.

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Supporting women in auto

Mayer delights in seeing other women excel in her industry, from management to pit lane. Women like Erebus Motorsport owner Betty Klimenko and Nissan's Altima V8 driver Simona De Silvestro are noted by Mayer as two stand outs in an industry that is slow to progress.

Speaking to motoring.com.au, the VACCs Deputy Executive Director and Founder of Women in Automotive, Leyla Yilmaz, confirms the local situation with regards to the inability to attract females to the industry.

"Participation rates of women in automotive remain unchanged for the past five years. We need to do more to change the mindset of businesses to not only hire more women - across a range of jobs - but create environments that support their career advancement in the industry. Currently, we see very high drop off rates." says Yilmaz.

Red Bull's Mayer this week addressed a group of 150 high-school girls at the Queensland University of Technology's Power of Engineering series. The initiative is designed to give girls interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) some hands-on experience as well as air time with career advocates such as Mayer.

It's an initiative close to the race engineer's heart — she remembers thinking the male-dominated world of engineering sounded daunting when she was of high school age.

Yilmaz applauds Mayer: "Romy's work highlights just how important STEM will be for those working in the automotive industry now and into the future.

"As the saying goes, 'You can't be, what you can't see' and Romy provides a face for women working in automotive. Automotive, and motorsport more specifically, has traditionally been very male dominated, with women often relegated to the role of grid girls. It's great to see women contributing in sophisticated roles — at the very top of the motor sport world."

It's clear that education and support is key. One recent positive is Ford Australia's announcement of a new scholarship to support women in STEAM (science, technology, engineering and applied mathematics) fields in partnership with Deakin University's Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment.

"STEAM education, combined with a diverse workforce is critical to building a pipeline of talent for Australian innovation." said Jess Selvay, Innovation Lead, Ford Asia Pacific.

"Ford Australia wants to encourage and motivate young women in fields of study that are traditionally male-dominated, to help them become innovation leaders in Australia and women who drive change." said Selvay.

Mayer's advice to women keen to enter the still male-dominated world of motorsport is to stop comparing yourself - not only to men, but anyone.

And more importantly, do not be afraid of failure. Mayer says she urges women to take the big steps - and that failure will provide you with the greatest learning opportunities.

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