International Women in Engineering Day 2024 – Q&A

Sunday the 23rd of June marked International Women in Engineering Day 2024 celebrated by the Women in Engineering Society.

The campaign recognises the women engineers around the world who have created a path for future generations in the field of engineering, highlighting their achievements and contributions to the wider industry.

To support International Women in Engineering Day, three RSE engineers at different stages in their careers give their insight on what their role as a woman in engineering is like, what inspired them to pursue a career in the water industry and their future goals as they continue to develop and excel in their roles at RSE.

Opala Siddique – Graduate Civil Engineer

Q.1 What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering, particularly within the water industry?

I’ve always been a creative person who loves solving problems, so engineering was a perfect fit for me. I also wanted to pursue something sustainable that benefits others, which is what drew me to RSE and the water industry.

Q.2 How has being in the engineering field enhanced your personal and professional growth? Can you share any specific projects or experiences that have been particularly impactful in your career so far?

Since working at RSE, I’ve become a more well-rounded engineer. The supportive environment here has allowed me to explore areas beyond my role as a civil engineer, expanding my knowledge in mechanical, project, process engineering and more. The biggest impact on my career and personal growth so far has come from the people around me, especially my supportive team and my graduate mentor, RSE Senior Project Manager Kirsty Ennion, who have all been incredibly encouraging.

Q.3 What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced as a woman in engineering? How have you worked to overcome these challenges and break the stereotypes associated with women in engineering?

I’m very lucky to be part of a diverse, supportive, and dynamic team now. In the past, I’ve faced some challenges, and have no doubt I’ll experience more as I develop my career but I’ve learned to be unapologetically myself, whether I fit or break stereotypes.

Q.4 What does a typical day look like for you in your position? What are the key responsibilities and challenges associated with your role?

My main responsibilities are as a civil designer, where I work with my team on planning, designing, and developing the civil aspects on various projects. I also work closely with the CAD team, assisting wherever I can in the modelling process to help meet deadlines.

Q.5 What are your future goals within the engineering industry? How do you envision the role of women in engineering evolving over the next decade?

I’d like to continue to explore different areas of the business and develop my skills across the board as I’m only at the start of my career. In future, I hope to see more women, including myself, in senior positions.

Katie Ferguson – Head of Process

Q.1 What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering, particularly within the water industry?

Throughout school I really enjoyed maths and science, with chemistry being my favourite subject. I decided to study Chemical Engineering as I felt it left my career options open and is a subject that features in nearly every industry.

After leaving university, I decided to pursue a career in the water industry as it presents a lot of opportunities across the country and is a sector where sustainability is of high importance. With population growth and environmental constraints, there are always new challenges and a need for innovative water treatment solutions, which is interesting to be a part of.

Q.2 How has being in the engineering field enhanced your personal and professional growth? Can you share any specific projects or experiences that have been particularly impactful in your career so far?

Working in engineering has enabled me to become a much more confident person. I feel confident in my own technical knowledge and no longer doubt myself that I can achieve my professional goals.

Recently working as the Design Lead on Lintrathen WTW ASD has been hugely impactful on my career as the largest project I have been involved with to date. Having the opportunity to lead the project from a design perspective has been a big challenge, however it has allowed me to develop my leadership skills as well as technical ability.

Q.3 What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced as a woman in engineering? How have you worked to overcome these challenges and break the stereotypes associated with women in engineering?

One of the biggest challenges I have faced as a woman in engineering is not having my technical ability overlooked and having to work harder to prove that I know what I am talking about!

I think it is great seeing a lot more young female engineers in the industry and I try to encourage them to have confidence in themselves and break the stereotypes about women in engineering. It is also good to see a lot of young men in engineering acting as advocates for women and not being influenced by stereotypes.

Q.4 What does a typical day look like for you in your position? What are the key responsibilities and challenges associated with your role?

The good thing about my job is that it varies from day to day. I can be in the office working on various clean and wastewater process designs or can be out on-site looking at ways to optimise existing equipment. Part of my responsibilities involves giving support to the rest of the Process team, which I enjoy as it is great to see young engineers develop.

Q.5 What are your future goals within the engineering industry? How do you envision the role of women in engineering evolving over the next decade?

I would like to continue progressing in my career with RSE both technically and in terms of leadership. I am new to my role as a department head so would like to develop my management skills to better support the team around me.

With a lot of new females coming into the industry, I think we will eventually start seeing more women in senior technical positions. This will be great to give young women in engineering role models that are relatable and demonstrate that women can also be successful in these positions.

Abbi McLeod – Mechanical Engineer

Q.1 What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering, particularly within the water industry?

I loved maths and science at school and wanted to go into a profession where I would use these on a regular basis. At university, my favourite module was Environmental Engineering which involved studying water treatment processes. For my 4th year dissertation, I investigated how natural light could be used with the use of semiconductors to treat water in natural disaster areas, which I found fascinating. It was from this point that I wanted to pursue a career in the water industry.

Q.2 How has being in the engineering field enhanced your personal and professional growth? Can you share any specific projects or experiences that have been particularly impactful in your career so far?

Currently I’m working in Design and leading my biggest project to date, Cupar WwTW Centrifuge. I have learnt a lot due to the complexity and multiple moving parts of the project, which I will take forward as lessons learnt for future projects. The experience I have gained has provided me with the confidence to put myself forward for leading similar and bigger projects in the future.

Q.3 What does a typical day look like for you in your position? What are the key responsibilities and challenges associated with your role?

As a Mechanical Engineer and Design Lead on a number of different projects, I am involved from the concept design through to both detailed and construction design. I am also responsible for producing mechanical deliverables such as pump sizing calculations, producing P&IDs, and working closely with the CAD team to produce mechanical layout drawings. As a Design Lead, I am responsible for ensuring the design meets the client scope expectations and that the Design team has all the required information needed to carry out their job. I work with the Project Management team to solve any design issues that could impact the project financials or programme. I also help to support more junior members of the team which I enjoy doing and it also helps consolidate my knowledge.

I would say the biggest challenge in the role is being involved in multiple different projects at the same time, however, I think it is great exposure to gain experience for someone relatively young in their career and I do enjoy the fast pace working environment.

Q.4 What are your future goals within the engineering industry? How do you envision the role of women in engineering evolving over the next decade?

Going forward in my career I would like to take the opportunity to be the Design Lead on larger and more complex projects. It is great that more and more women are getting into the engineering industry and into positions of influence. It would be great to see the number of women in senior management positions continue to increase and for engineering to no longer be seen as a male-dominated profession. I think as an industry we need to work collaboratively with schools to introduce engineering as a career option for young girls who enjoy and excel in STEM subjects.