The international Girls in Control initiative has received the 2026 IFAC Foundation Diversity and Inclusion Award, recognising its contribution to advancing diversity and inclusion within the global control engineering community.
University of Newcastle Lecturer with the School of Engineering Dr Roxy Jackson - and a member of the Girls in Control international leadership team - helped grow the program from a single workshop into a worldwide initiative reaching more than 2,000 participants across 19 languages.
Presented every three years at the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) World Congress, the award honours groups that have made significant contributions to diversity and inclusion across IFACs scientific and organisational activities.
Girls in Control encourages girls aged 10 to 15 to explore engineering, automation and STEM careers through hands-on workshops that introduce control engineering concepts, coding and problem solving. The program also connects participants with women working in engineering and control systems, helping to increase visibility of career pathways while fostering greater participation and representation in the field.
The award was presented at the 2026 IFAC World Congress in South Korea and received by the Girls in Control leadership team including Dr Jackson.
