Recommendation – Education – Networking
Women empowering HDD
The issue of skills shortages remains a major and complex challenge. Enough incentive for the DCA to get involved with large-scale projects in this area and to ask itself how the HDD industry can be made more attractive for both target groups and how the target groups can be better interested in the HDD industry.
In the “Women empowering HDD” project, a network consisting of six women has been meeting since October 2023 to develop specific measures. This includes, for example, a survey that was made available to DCA member companies at the members’ meeting with the aim of identifying key figures, the role of women in the companies and any uncertainties. The group will work closely with the “HDD Film” task group. The results will be presented at the next annual congress and an action plan will be prepared.
The “Women empowering HDD” group consists of representatives from many sectors:
Fabiola Schnau
Engineering
x-plan Schnau GmbH & Co. KG, Deutschland
Lydie Vuille
Engineering
FOREXI, Frankreich
Nicole Laubach
Suppliers
L-Team X-Tools GmbH & Co. KG, Deutschland
Elsedien Mc Cormack
Drilling company
Mc Cormack Drilling
Anna Serarols
Drilling company
Catalana de Perforacions S.A.
Camila Sanchez Prado
Drilling company
HDI – Horizontal Drilling International S.A.S
DCA Spring Talks
This event aims to provide an opportunity for all members, but especially women in the HDD industry, to come together to promote diversity, share knowledge and strengthen valuable networking connections. The event offers interesting presentations, also on the topic of ‘Drill for Europe’, a discussion round in the afternoon as well as networking opportunities over lunch and after work networking in the afternoon.
We-HDD – 1st DCA Spring Talks successfully launched in Aachen
On the 27th May 2025, a new event on the DCA annual calendar took place in Aachen, Germany: The DCA Spring Talks.
When Women Empowering HDD was launched by the DCA board two years ago, we raised an important question: how can we bring 50% of the talent in the population into our workforce?
A lot has been organized since, as a small group coordinators continue to see each other every month: a large survey with our members which results were shared during last year’s congress in Barcelona, a “girls only” networking drinks event is part of the official schedule since last year, and an intense collaboration with drill for Europe, for example.
The first DCA Spring Talks in Aachen at the end of May was organized by We-HDD to condensate part of the change intended to be brought to our companies. It was designed to be an accessible event with a larger content proposal with topics like ground investigation campaign, the appropriate choice of the drilling tools, the role of grouting in cable projects, how to make our job sites greener, project presentations and even a much-appreciated mini mud-school!
Most of our speakers were women as well as the attendance, where we have chosen to have at least one woman per company. The intention was explicitly to put more women in the spotlight, given them the opportunity to experience DCA, showcasing their great contributions and spreading technical knowledge to inspire and help all – regardless of their gender.
This first event welcomed more than 40 people from our DCA members, which was a good participation for a new DCA event. Other similar events will be planned to develop individuals and grow our industry together.
And together, let’s make the HDD business stronger. Let’s attract women and younger generations. Let’s contribute to the energy transition and a better future.
See you again in 2026!