Girls can make a good career from Engineering

There are many inspiring stories of women into engineering, stories of women who reach those landmark feats but there also women who achieve their dreams in other ways, who are inspired by engineering itself. I am inspired by curiosity of how things work and hence my attraction to mechanical engineering and physics.

It was a serendipitous moment 20 years ago, when I got my first job in an Engineering company that manufactured Springs of all shapes and sizes. I was employed as a specification and orders clerk.

I spent more time on the shop floor, by the lathes, CNCs and in Inspection instead of being at my desk, taking orders and writing specifications for design & manufacture.

My life and career soon changed when my Boss noticed that I was less at my desk and more on the shop floor, this is when he decided to offer me the option to study Engineering as an apprentice.

It was the perfect decision; I looked forward to going work every day. The process of how the machines churned out Springs, the Presses that stamped out Wave Washers and more interestingly seeing the design process turn into an actual product was just awesome. It made me proud to think that some of the Springs I designed were in Space and, used in many other products such as the Black and Decker drill machines.

I worked on projects for MOD, Flight Refuelling, Matra Marconi Space, Black and Decker, Instron, Lister Petter, John Crane and many more, I was a small part of so many big companies and that was my achievement. I am ever grateful to Doig Springs and Engineering for the opportunity they provided, the investment they made in me and for having the confidence in me. I have always had fun jobs and was able to sustain a good living.

Today, I am employed as an Engineering Operations Manager at ATG Future Centre helping organisations train and educate their new engineers and I hope to inspire more women into Engineering.

I am Mala Rajput at ATG……. I love how things work!