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It was just a normal Saturday last October.
I collected my post on the way to the gym and thought nothing else of it. When I came round to looking at it later, I noticed a very formal envelope with an equally formal letter inside. It stated that I was to be recognised on the 2022 New Year’s Honours List through an MBE from Her Majesty The Queen. Being awarded in this way for services to engineering and my work in driving diversity is very exciting and also very humbling.
At the ceremony later this year I’m allowed one guest.
I’ve asked my parents to flip a coin as I couldn’t possibly choose. Both had an influence on my choice of career. My mum was a very talented artist, having been a draughtswoman before marriage, whilst my dad is a physics academic and STEM spokesperson in Scotland. I grew up enjoying art but also maths and physics. In our home, maths was seen as fun, and it was only when visiting friends that I realised it wasn’t normal to want to measure your dinner plate to figure out its radius.
Product design engineering felt like a natural fit.
I studied an IMechE-accredited degree course in product design engineering at the University of Glasgow and the Glasgow School of Art. Following that, in 2002, I did an MSc in engineering management at Strathclyde University.
Straight out of university I joined Dyson as a development engineer.
It was a great job for a graduate but I had really set my sights on becoming a toy designer, having recently seen the Tom Hanks film Big. Sure enough, four months later I landed a job as a global design engineer at Hasbro, working out of its European headquarters in London. For a young twenty-something I couldn’t quite believe I was getting paid to fly around the world designing toys. I later worked for Mattel as a global quality project engineer. To say I have been able to work for the two big toy players during my career is amazing.
But four years in industry made me realise just how undervalued engineers are.
I actually wanted to leave the profession. I returned to Strathclyde University but this time for an MBA with the aim of entering finance. The idea of making a mark in that industry and at the same time increasing my salary and naively thinking I would be able to retire by 40 did have an appeal.
That same year I won the Young Woman in Engineering Award from the Women’s Engineering Society (WES).
This was not part of the plan. Deterred from finance due to the 2008 recession, and with no other options that appealed, I decided to stick with engineering and make the most of it by moving into the food manufacturing sector. The day I handed in my MBA dissertation I received a job offer as a senior innovation packaging scientist at Mars’ UK office.
If there is one thing I learned during this time it’s the power of surrounding yourself with a good network.
Through WES, for instance, I met an amazing group of people that offered guidance, mentorship, encouragement and support. If it wasn’t for networks like this I would have probably left engineering.
Another important learning is being mindful of the company you keep.
I’m very lucky in that I get to meet amazingly bright people and I think surrounding yourself with people that are better than you, in whatever aspect, is where you’ll see your own growth. Aspire to be around those who help lift you up to become the best version of yourself.
I still find myself in situations where I feel undervalued and underappreciated.
There’s still that misconception about what engineers do. Tell someone you’re a doctor and they exclaim ‘wow’. Tell them you’re an engineer and they ask, ‘My radio’s broken, can you fix it?’
I think Covid has opened people’s eyes to the importance of engineers.
When pubs and clubs were closed, the big drinks industries came to rely on supply-chain management to get stock on the supermarket shelves. The stock got there because technical minds were looking at it every day. Then, who was coming up with the solutions for life-saving ventilators and personal protective equipment? I feel passionately that qualified professional engineers can drive out costs, develop holistic strategies, improve efficiency and develop amazing products.
I’m involved in a lot of charity work for various institutions around diversity, inclusion and STEM.
I’m often asked why I do all this on top of my day job and my answer is: If I don’t, who else will? It’s also about the legacy you leave behind. For me engineering is more than just doing a 9 to 5 because I want to get paid.
My career is not at all what I thought it would be.
It has been very exciting, emotional, energising and at times exhausting but I do feel that it is my calling. And while I haven’t quite managed to retire at 40, I do have an MBE, which is a truly amazing recognition of more than two decades of hard work.
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.