This ad campaign proves engineering was never a man's world

You have to know who invented that shower heater you use in the morning.

Goodfellas recently launched an ad campaign for The Singapore University of Technology and Design. SUTD had an arduous task of increasing its female intake of 15 percent to an ambitious 40 percent in the male-dominated engineering courses. This campaign is a follow up to the women's campaign the agency did last year to encourage women to enrol in Technology and Design courses.

Women generally perceive a career in engineering and technology to be hard, unglamorous and more suited for men. Goodfellas needed to prove to women that they were just as suited as their male counterparts for this particular field of expertise.

Instead of featuring successful female inventors in our campaign, the agency shifted the focus to some of their life-improving inventions such as the electric water heater and signal flare. These inventions play an important role in people's lives but their significance is often taken for granted.

The nature of these inventions symbolises the understated role of women in the field of technology and design and also highlights their strong, silent disposition of constantly striving to improve the lives of others.

The origins of these inventions would surprise many, including women themselves; as the advertising campaign alludes to, Goodfellas want more women to realise that they have the ability to innovate and invent - a skill set that has often been deemed as masculine attributes.

The feedback received for the first campaign was very encouraging. SUTD managed to boost its female intake to 45%,surpassing their original intake of 15% by 300%. This is more than two times the usual enrollment in engineering courses in any institution overseas. Goodfellas expects a positive reaction from the target audience for this campaign as well.