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.
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker