In aerospace engineering the figure is a couple of percentage points lower, which is difficult to understand, as I think it’s a great industry to be in. We also need to attract more engineers, as there is already a shortfall and unless we address it that hole will just get deeper.
I always wanted to go into aerospace engineering. I studied Aeronautical Engineering at Punjab Engineering College in India, and worked on some really cool projects investigating and creating neural networks to predict aircraft design performance.
I was very fortunate that I was sponsored by Rolls-Royce to study for my PhD at the University of Southampton, UK.
I began my career in turbine systems engineering, then went into technical and programme delivery of civil large engines, and now I am doing something quite different.
I feel there is a misconception that going into one field limits you to that field, but that’s simply not the case. It’s about thinking out of the box and using what you know to challenge the status quo. For me engineering is about wondering if there is a better way, not just accepting that this way is the only way.
There were only three females on my course, and two of us have veered away from what we originally started doing. I know that one of the things that attracts our apprentices and interns to our training schemes is the breadth of experience they have with us. They get to work on live projects from day one, and are encouraged to chip in their ideas, however left field they may initially think they are.