Check out our Q&A with the amazing Katy Deacon.
KATY DEACON
INSPIRATIONAL WOMEN IN INDUSTRY BY AN INSPIRING JOURNEY: TURNING ADVERSITY INTO ADVANTAGE: An Inspirational Career Transformation
From Lego Enthusiast to Engineering Advocate: Katy's Path to Success
AWARD-WINNING ENGINEER: From Apprenticeship to Chartership.. her Proudest Accomplishments and Future Vision
THE POWER OF MENTORSHIP: Katy’s Role in Shaping Future Engineers
A Vision for a More Accessible Engineering Industry
Meet Katy Deacon, the dynamic Managing Director of Towards Belonging Ltd. , who is transforming the engineering landscape with her commitment to inclusivity and accessibility. From her early fascination with Lego and rockets to her impressive career that includes a prestigious IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year award, Katy has continually broken barriers. Despite facing the challenge of a multiple sclerosis diagnosis, she has remained steadfast in her mission to bridge the gap between the engineering industry and the disabled community. Join us as we delve into Katy’s inspiring journey, her innovative approach to engineering, and her vision for a more inclusive future. Q&A with Katy Who is your employer? I work for myself. I run my own business,
Towards Belonging Ltd. What is your job title? My job title is Managing Director
What are your current job responsibilities? I am responsible for all of the tasks within the organisation. My main role at the moment is to help engineers understand the requirements of disabled people and help to try highlight the needs of Society and how the engineering industry needs to continue to improve equality, diversity, and inclusion. Having a more inclusive and accessible society will make the workplace and the lived environment much better for everyone. What were your interests at a young age, and how did they guide you to your current position? What inspired you to join the industry? When I was younger, I loved building Lego, gardening and looking after my neighbours horses. I was a very outside girl. My key inspiration was Lego. I loved working out how different components came together to create the finished model. I really loved technic Lego, which uses Lego pieces to actually make a moving model.
One of the main interests for me was understanding how rockets went into space. I wrote to every NASA base to ask which qualifications I needed to be able to build spacecraft. I had a reply from the Ames research centre and an invite to go over and visit them. It was an absolutely wonderful trip and I knew that I wanted to be involved with building aircraft or spacecraft. Did you undertake any specific education or training for your career? If so, what did you study, and were there any subjects or courses that significantly influenced your career direction or success? I was incredibly lucky to be accepted onto the British Airways aircraft maintenance apprenticeship. This was a graduate apprenticeship, so after doing my basic training in Scotland, I studied Air Transport Engineering and received a first-class honours degree from City University in London. A few years after my apprenticeship, I had moved into the building services industry. I really wanted to become a chartered engineer , but for that I needed a masters degree. I spoke to my boss about my aspirations and I received support from my employer to study on a block-release course at Loughborough University in Advanced Engineering. This allowed me to go deeper into electrical engineering design, renewable energy systems and low carbon buildings. I achieved a merit for my masters degree and my dissertation project, The Renewable Energy Toolkit won the NICEIC energy efficiency product of the year in 2006. I achieved my chartered status in 2008. It was great having the technical background for renewable energy installations. At that time the industry was growing and the country was really positive about renewable energy.
In 2013 I started a degree in information governance and assurance. By this time, I had adjusted my career focus to become more skilled in managing people. It was important for me to gain qualifications in my new work area, so I carried out a postgraduate certificate in information governance and assurance from Aberystwyth university. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012, so having reviewed my career direction really worked because I could not have visited site in a wheelchair if I was still in my previous job. Were there any role models or individuals in your field who inspired you? If so, how did they impact your career choices? My dad really inspired me to work in Engineering. He had been a car mechanic and we used to spend hours looking under the bonnet of his car, talking about how different components worked together to make the car work. With the Lego and the discussions with my dad, it became clear to me that my mind understood these things and so I should use that to my advantage. I have never experienced a female engineer, which I think is quite sad because there are many but we don’t know about them. With the rise of social media and so many images in the public domain I feel it’s really important that women engineers are visible and disabled engineers are visible, so that young people can realise that it’s possible to be a successful engineer, regardless of your circumstances.
What has been the most challenging aspect of your career so far? The most challenging aspect of my career was my MS diagnosis. I had to rethink everything and still come out with a positive result because I had a family who relied on me and I couldn’t let everything go. It’s funny that you might plan your career when you are younger, but actually, life has a habit of throwing curveballs in the way. You just need to be calm and work out how to make the best of what comes at you. I had already decided to move into a management position, three months before my diagnosis. It was very fortunate that I was offered the job and was able to take it up, even with my diagnosis. Having a more desk-based job really helped me and I was able to carry that job out, for a further 10 years. My disease progression has meant that I had to do another stock take two years ago and retire on ill-health grounds. I am a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), a trustee and Vice President of the IET chairing the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Board. My voluntary work is important to me, but I must be very careful about the hours I commit, due to my health. I have a lot of experience and I feel it’s important to keep contributing while I can; so I started my own company because it was clear from my years of being a disabled engineer that the engineering industry does not understand how to design with inclusion in mind and accessibility is not of paramount importance. With the help of a team of brilliant partners and associates, Towards Belonging Ltd acts as a bridge between the disabled community and the engineering industry, to help engineers understand why inclusive engineering design is so important and give disabled people a voice. As part of this work, I am a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at Aston University and the University of Huddersfield. I specialise in inclusive engineering design, to help new engineers learn how to ensure their designs are inclusive and accessible for everyone. Which achievement or project are you most proud of, and what impact has it had on your company or the industry? I am most proud of my young woman engineer of the year award. This award, whilst at the beginning of my career in 2006, help set my path to achieve great things. It gave me the opportunity to learn how to speak to audiences with confidence. It gave me the opportunity to sit on strategic boards and experience opportunities I would never have been given without it. What aspects of your job do you find the most enjoyable and fulfilling? One of the most fulfilling things I do is mentoring. I have two early career mentees at the moment. It is great to see their progress on a monthly basis and to help advise them in their career choices.
What advice would you offer young people considering a career in your industry? I would advise young people to really consider Engineering as a career option. There are so many different branches of Engineering and it is so exciting. The industry needs young people, with their ideas, passion and energy. If you are considering going into Engineering, find a mentor to help you work through your thought process. Engineers who have been in the industry for a while will have great ideas and will always be enthusiastic to help. Where do you see the future of your industry heading, and how can young women and men prepare to be a part of that future? The engineering industry is incredibly exciting. Engineers will provide solutions for all of the
challenges we face and the challenges which are to come. Young women and young men can be part of this future by studying hard and then asking for help. Joining institutions like the Institute of Engineering and Technology gives you a platform to learn from other people but also to potentially gain sponsorship, awards and professional recognition.
What is your company's primary function? The function of Towards Belonging Ltd is to enable engineers to understand how they can build inclusive and accessible solutions for society. In which sector(s) does it operate? Towards Belonging Ltd operates within the engineering industry, but also within the disabled community, the university environment and across business organisations. What are some of the key roles within your team? Towards Belonging Ltd is a very small company. The only role at the moment is to communicate, share knowledge and encourage the Engineering industry to hear the voices within the disabled community. What can you tell us about apprenticeships in your field? Have you had any direct involvement with apprentices? Apprenticeships within the engineering community are excellent. I would definitely recommend young people to discover what apprenticeships are available. They give you the chance to be paid whilst you are learning and to complete the apprenticeship whilst gaining a recognised qualification. Based on your experience, what types of apprenticeships would you recommend? I would recommend looking for the level of apprenticeship you feel comfortable with studying. There are many different levels available now. It may be that you start at a lower level and can progress to higher levels. It may be that you start at a degree apprenticeship level. When you are in a job, apprenticeships may come up later. Essentially, apprenticeships are training opportunities for an employer to benefit from the individuals work whilst also gaining funding from the government. Consider apprenticeships as a positive experience. They are only going to be good for your CV, your work experience and your technical skills.
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