I joined ORR six years ago as a Civil Engineer. Before joining the Civil Service, I had been working in the UK infrastructure sector for several years, both as an Engineering Consultant and for Network Rail.
I can say that a career in engineering was almost a natural choice for me. At school my favourite subjects were maths, physics and chemistry. In addition I grew up in a family of civil engineers and I was lucky enough to have a few women engineers as role models around me.
My fascination for civil engineering was primarily driven by the possibility of solving complex problems and to contribute to the betterment of society as a whole. Looking back now, I am immensely proud of what I have achieved so far and I am looking forward to the new and exciting challenges that lie ahead.
Within the Enhancements, Engineering and Asset Management Team team I am responsible for, the Structures and Tunnels & Mining portfolio which means thatI engage with Network Rail Professional Heads on a regular basis and visit regions frequently. What I enjoy the most about my work is the diverse range of topics that we get involved with and being part of a great team of experts. Days can be quite different from each other – one day we could be providing technical advice to access and licenscing agreements and the next one we might be attending a site visit as part of an incident investigation.
I would like to take this opportunity to celebrate all of the amazing women from our industry who work hard each day to make rail a fantastic sector to work in. For all women who are contemplating a career in engineering, I would advise them to not hesitate and to not be put off by any preconceptions. Let your creativity, curiosity and imagination lead the way in what will be an extremely rewarding journey.