International Women in Engineering Day - June 2021
To mark International Women in Engineering Day (Wednesday 23rd June), Network Rail Consulting (NRC) is promoting the contributions of women in engineering as new research has highlighted a lack of female role models within Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) sectors.
NRC celebrates the amazing work that our female engineers and team members are doing by sharing some short stories from around the world. This year's theme for International Women in Engineering Day is ‘Engineering Heroes' find out what Maegan, Teona and Fiona have to say about their careers in the engineering industry and who their engineering heroes are!
Maegan Bell
What’s your name and what do you do?
Maegan Bell - Director of Project & Program for Network Rail Consulting.
Where are you in the world?
I am currently based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
How long have you worked for Network Rail Consulting?
I have been working at NRC for two years now. Prior to NRC, I worked at Network Rail UK for 18 years. I was fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work in many diverse roles and departments in Network Rail over the years. This has given me a great foundation of experience to apply to my role in NRC.
What are you currently working on this year?
I am currently leading two improvement projects with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) transit system’s Engineering & Maintenance and Office of Chief Engineer departments. In 2019, we undertook an asset management maturity assessment with the MBTA and developed a suite of recommendations that they could introduce and embed to facilitate the asset management maturity journey they embarked on.
The two projects we are working on this year focusses on further developing asset management processes, asset information system configuration, and best practice maintenance processes in response to the asset management maturity assessment recommendations.
What made you want to join the engineering industry?
I actually fell into the rail engineering industry by chance when I applied for a stop-gap role after I had graduated from university with a degree in Law and English. The rail industry gripped me and changed my planned career path completely.
The satisfaction of being able to positively influence the socio-economic benefits the rail and transit systems bring to communities has kept me hooked for 20 years now. I feel like I get to make a meaningful difference to the world every day. What we do really matters!
The diversity in people, skills, process, and technology it takes to effectively run a railway means that I get to work with great people and be exposed to different ways of thinking to innovate and solve problems on a daily basis. Every day is a “school day” on the railway for me. I am continually learning and growing both personally and professionally.
I love this industry and am thankful to have been given the opportunity to be part of it.
What's been your high point while working for Network Rail Consulting so far?
There have been so many high points, it is hard to distinguish just one. Experiencing a new culture in a different part of the world and being able to explore Massachusetts has been amazing!
Working with our clients is the best part of the job for me, being able to take the time to understand the environment they operate in, the challenges they are facing and the support we can provide to help.
Having the opportunity to share our experience in managing a railway with our clients, both in what worked well for us as well as the mistakes we have learned from, and then putting that experience into practice with our clients is very rewarding.
This year's theme for International Women in Engineering Day is ‘Engineering Heroes!'. Who’s your engineering hero and why?
My engineering hero is Tara Scott, a colleague and close friend in Network Rail UK.
I have such admiration for her personal tenacity and determination in breaking down barriers for women in engineering. I have been privileged to witness her career journey in the rail industry, not only from the technical engineering achievement perspective, but the inspiration she instils in all that follow through the doors that she has opened.
It has not always been an easy journey, and she has had to battle through the stereotypical challenges in a predominantly male-dominated engineering industry. It is encouraging to see the industry progressing in diversity, and engineers like Tara have been at the forefront of this change.
What advice would you give other women who are interested in joining the engineering industry?
The future of the rail engineering industry particularly, is reliant on innovation and diverse thinking. The way the world operates is constantly changing and the industry has to keep up with this pace of change to provide a sustainable service to the communities it serves. In short, the rail industry needs more diversity to survive.
You could make a real difference in how the future of rail is shaped, by being part of developing a vital community service that considers diversity for all, leads to economic and social growth, and positively contributes to climate change solutions for future generations.
My advice would be to carve your own space in the engineering industry you are interested in joining and try not to “fit in” with pre-determined ways of thinking, especially the “this is how it has always been done” approach.
Be confident in the skillsets you bring to the party, and actively pursue development opportunities to continue to grow both personally and professionally. Finally, find a role you really enjoy and be the change you want to see in your engineering industry.
Teona Whealing
What’s your name and what do you do?
My name is Teona Whealing, and I am an Independent Safety Assessment (ISA) Coordinator providing support to the ISA Team for the Sydney Metro City and South West Project.
Where are you in the world?
I am based permanently in Sydney, Australia.
How long have you worked for Network Rail Consulting?
I have been with NRC for more than two years now.
What are you currently working on this year?
I would say that ISA is very much focusing on Design and Implementation Phase Audits in order to gain confidence that appropriate assurance of safety is being developed and provided across various new Metro stations in the implementation phase. I am working on planning Audit schedules, liaising with stakeholders, preparing agendas and Audit Reports.
What made you want to join the engineering industry?
I have always been fascinated by engineering and how engineers solve problems logically and structurally. Once I stepped into the engineering industry, I have never deviated from it.
What's been your high point while working for Network Rail Consulting so far?
A high point from the get-go has been working on a once in a lifetime project. The project will extend the recently commissioned Metro North West Line from Chatswood on Sydney’s North Shore to Bankstown in the city's south-west via the Sydney central business district. Seven new stations will be built, and 11 stations will be upgraded to suite Metro operations.
This year's theme for International Women in Engineering Day is ‘Engineering Heroes!'. Who’s your engineering hero and why?
My Engineering Hero is Ada Lovelace who was an English female Engineer, Lord Byron’s only daughter, who was working on an Analytical Engine and effectively created a first computer programme. Ada Lovelace was also the first person to conceive the idea of computing power being applied beyond just mathematics and this makes her even more a hero as a woman who inspired and paved a path for female Engineers across the globe.
What advice would you give other women who are interested in joining the engineering industry?
Engineering plays a key role in our accelerated altered world. You too can be a part of these amazing experiences.
Fiona Rendell
What’s your name and what do you do?
Fiona Rendell, Administration/Team Organiser.
Where are you in the world?
I was based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on secondment from Network Rail UK. I have now returned back to the UK.
How long have you worked for Network Rail Consulting?
I worked for NRC for 18 months.
What are you currently working on this year?
While in Riyadh, I was coordinating a knowledge transfer project and reporting between NRC and Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) colleagues. I was also responsible for reporting of the KPI from the project to SAR and NRC management and compilation and checking of engineering reports for SAR management meetings.
What made you want to join the engineering industry?
As a former teacher and scientist, my enthusiasm was to work in an industry which uses science and engineering to tackle large scale projects. Being part of the team that delivers that to the railway industry in Saudi Arabia is an exciting place to be.
What's been your high point while working for Network Rail Consulting so far?
Being part of the team, which represented Network Rail Consulting at the Middle East Rail Conference in Dubai in February 2020. Being able to see the range of different industries and projects which exist in the Middle East working in the railway and meeting so many different people all focussed on the same industry was a great opportunity.
This year's theme for International Women in Engineering Day is ‘Engineering Heroes!'. Who’s your engineering hero and why?
Hedy Lamarr. Alongside acting, she spent much of her spare time creating and improving her inventions, including a more streamlined plane for Howard Hughes and a frequency-hopping device used to guide torpedoes during World War II. Versions of her invention are now used in Bluetooth technology. She was self-taught and an amazing example of a polymath who excelled in both acting and engineering.
What advice would you give other women who are interested in joining the engineering industry?
Just do it! There are so many opportunities out there to be able to follow what your passion is. Traditional barriers and expectations are fading into history and there is nothing which should stop anybody pursuing the career which would make them happy.