As far back as I can remember I’ve always enjoyed learning – even as a child I loved going to school and broadening my mind with different subjects - which is why I feel so lucky to have found this amazing career as an engineer at BAE Systems where I am still, constantly learning every day. It’s so stimulating, with new things to tackle every morning and no time to be bored… yes, really!
Connie White
As Senior Systems Engineer in BAE Systems’ Naval Ships business, I am responsible for the Meteorological and Oceanographic system which collates and analyses the environmental information that a ship is operating in.
My day tends to start off with a regular walk through the office, not only via the kitchen to fetch coffee, but to clock up those Fitbit essential steps! Moving around throughout the day makes the brain function so much better – or so I’ve been told!
My daily tasks are like a 5000-piece jigsaw puzzle, without the picture on the lid to go by. One day you will be working on stress calculations of infrastructure that must retain the weight of equipment on a ship surface, and the next you may be looking at the way data is collected, how equipment is used, and analysing if there’s any potential impact on marine mammals in the locality of the ship.
What I love about my job is that each day we’ll achieve something that will eventually make a system work for those at the operational end of things, on-board a huge ship, such as the Type 26 frigate, in the middle of a vast ocean. It is good to know that something the team and I work on can support the Royal Navy, to keep them safe and sometimes mean the difference between mission failure and success in a military situation.
If I had known about engineering opportunities as a child I would have been really keen to try it out back then, which is why I am passionate about my work as a BAE Systems STEM ambassador, a lot of which specifically involves speaking to young women and telling them what no one ever told me at school.
It is my opportunity to share my story and show them the many different, exciting engineering opportunities available. I love to explain the stereotypical image of an engineer - a man, who carries a spanner, eats pies, and fixes the plumbing - is not even close to reality, and that women can be at the forefront of engineering, and forge careers which are incredibly exciting. It’s funny, the students I speak to recognise Tim Peake immediately, but when I put an image of Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut, in a presentation, they have no idea who she is! There are hundreds of pioneering female engineers and scientists who have paved the way, and it’s our responsibility to educate and inspire the next generation.
My evenings are then consumed by my other role, as a single parent of two beautiful, teenage girls. They are the ‘haul me from a warm bed with a crane’; the mad rush to school; the return journey for the musical instrument on the kitchen table; the ‘make a packed lunch in less than 2 minutes’, and ‘snuggle up on the sofa in PJs with cocoa’ of my evening and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I can be an Engineer and I can be a Mum.
Dr Connie Wilson, Senior Systems Engineer at BAE Systems, Naval Ships