To celebrate International Women in Engineering Day we're sharing individual stories of women engineers from across UKCRIC member institutions.
Tell us about your role and what you find most exciting about it.
I am a Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham in the Civil Engineering Department, based in the National Buried Infrastructure facility (NBIF), currently working on the Geophysics work package of the Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Timing. The most exciting part of my daily research work is utilising and developing my knowledge to explore unknown fields, meeting and interacting with different groups, achieving better engineering solutions that address key global environmental and humanitarian challenges, and unlocking my unlimited potential.
What inspired you to become an engineer/work in the engineering sector?
To be honest, it was not my first choice as I had many dream jobs while growing up. I wanted to be a war correspondent when I first understood the meaning of ‘war’. I changed my mind about being a lawyer after watching the popular Hong Kong law series TV show; then, I became obsessed with being a detective after reading Sherlock Holmes novels and Detective Conan! Then, when I entered the second year of high school I decided that I wanted to be an architect since I had a strong interest in buildings, although I am very good at math and physics. In the end I received an offer from a University to study Civil Engineering. As the opportunity to study architecture was still an option for me I originally planned to change the subject after finishing the first academic year, however, after a whole year of study, a career in civil engineering started to become very appealing. I realised civil engineering provided me with big interesting challenges and I was able to use my knowledge and skills to contribute to solving problems. Also, my rigorous logical thinking ability and passion for structures and buildings prepared me very well for it. Then I came to the UK for further Master's and PhD studies and I am now happy carrying on doing research in this field.
How do you balance your professional and personal lives?
This is of course a question for everyone no matter what their chosen career is. At first I struggled with this balance and I am still learning and improving every day. It can be hard to give equal time and energy in both work and life. In my case I try to stick to a ‘dynamic priority’ strategy. Sometimes, outside of core working hours, I still need to focus more on my research project, particularly when certain milestones have to be delivered, and sometimes of course, I need more time for my family and my friends or perhaps I need some space for myself. I learned a tip from my line manager, which is to ‘trust your team members’. Having trust in the team you have around you is very important to manage stress. I apply this now in both my work and personal life and I continue to build up the resilience of the teams and make sure they were in virtuous loops. When I work on a task, I am fully focused but once this is finished I can move my attention to the next task quickly. I am also very active in sharing my experiences and tips with colleagues and friends.
In your opinion is there more that can be done to encourage a greater diversity of people into engineering careers?
I would like to see more ‘story sharing’, not only successful stories but hearing about failures also has value because of the lessons learned. Some of these shared experiences are outside of the traditional definitions of engineering careers. I found that barriers are mostly caused by inherent thought. To remove obstacles, the first step is to have a real feel for the diversity of our engineering careers through storytelling.
What advice would you give for anyone interested in pursuing an engineering career?
Go for it. I rarely feel regret about the choices I made because at the time, it was what I wanted to do and ultimately it led to the career I am in now. So don’t be worried if your interests change. If you are unsure whether a career in engineering is for you I would suggest trying to approach the people who are in engineering roles that are of interest. Ask questions and explore the role as much you can. If you are still interested and you know what path you need to take such as the subjects you need to study then make a plan. List out your concerns and try to find the solutions. Above all, be honest with yourself. For me there is no complete definition of an engineering career; it is very broad and perhaps far beyond your imagination. The day you choose this career path, you will make your own definition. I never thought I could contribute to the Quantum Technology project, but here I am, and the journey is fulfilling. I am very much looking forward to further unlocking my unlimited potential.
Dr. Sha Luo is a Research Fellow with the Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Timing Project at the University of Birmingham.