Scilence

Sita is in her first year of Mechanical Engineering and already convinced that this is what she wants to do! This is what direction sounds like. She may not know the outcomes of her interests and where it will lead, but what is sure, is that she's enjoying every step of the way, even when times are hard!

Ella Podmore exudes confidence and boldness through her transparency. It's inspiring to listen to a women who is so comfortable in her own skin, despite the occasional self-doubt and fear in standing-up for herself in a very male-dominated industry. What's most inspiring is that she speaks up anyway, with an attitude of knowing that she has nothing to lose and everything to gain!

This week I talk to Yulia Getachew about her experiences into Aerospace Engineering. It hasn't been easy as someone who was transplanted from Ethiopia to London at the age of 6 years old. Despite all the bullying, failures and obstacles of being under represented, she has emerged strong and powerful and she shares what she has learned with us!

Vanessa grew up in a bi-racial family and has strong opinions about diversity and inclusion in engineering. We have a chat about how to unite the industry, to provide skills necessary for harmony and innovation, not just in engineering, but also in life.

Architecture - where science and art collides! I talk to architect Kavita Dhande, who thinks it's an industry that could support women one day, but today is very much dominated by men!

Speaking to Lara gave me goosebumps because we are so aligned. She is passionate about shaking up our educational system to combine science and art AND she is determined to incorporate cultural differences into the way we learn. Its a beautiful conversation about collaboration and open-mindedness and how all of these things can make innovation better in the future.

Sophie Harker was happily oblivious to the differences between school-life and work life as a mathematics student.  She then found herself transitioning out of mathematics into Aerospace Engineering.  Her leap into the unknown is courageous and daring and at the root of them all, has been a deep self-belief that she can tackle anything she puts her mind to.

Rashim is a beacon of light, shining light on the path to female empowerment! Her approach to building one's confidence and resilience is smart, logical and inspiring!

These twins are just 18, and they are about to embark on a solo flight each in a Diamond plane, following each other around the world. Their mission is to raise awareness of Women in STEM and the importance of education for women. The journey should take them a year. They're pretty badass. You can track them at: https://fr.gmaneuver.com/team and they also have a GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/f05213ee

Arielle has experienced the usual experiences, when under-represented. The Imposter Syndrome, being your own cheerleader, the loneliness and self-doubt. Despite that she pushes through because she is getting herself an impressive education for her own self-esteem and interest. That drive allows her to push through anything.

Isabella Mascarenhas is pushing for more GEMs in STEM (global ethnic minorities) in STEM! She's VP of @rsgrassroots #engineering that encourages more #bame into industry - they have loads of #stem initiatives and support on offer!

Fiona McGarry is really ahead of the curve when it comes to STEM engagement. She has led initiatives at MakeUK, which has showcased how powerful apprenticeships are for getting into engineering! Fiona is up to date in pushing for individuals to be themselves in STEM. We do need diversity, but more importantly, we want people to discover their talents and skills, so they can shine within STEM industries.

There are very few sciences Dr. Strasser hasn't studied, from mathematics to engineering and biology. Now she is the CSO of Pepper Bio, a drug discovery company that uses AI and other clever algorithms to treat patients more effectively. In short, Dr. Strasser is using her gifts to help others and it was inspiring and right-sizing to speak with such a humble trailblazer...

Sarah Chapman is so much more than a chemist, especially thanks to her day job as an Application Engineering Technical Manager. Sarah has many strings to her bow and believes that we should all speak out, because we never know who we may inspire into STEM. Sarah's TED talk is amazing and I love her analogy that we are all streetlights and some of us stars, but we can all guide each other home..

Shireen loves learning and helping other people to learn. She does this through illustration and for me is a perfect vision of someone who applies all her skills, talents and interests into one career. She is doing what it takes to create her dream job, merging creativity and tech.

Ashley Van Bruygom is fast becoming one of the world's experts on Hydrogen, a fuel which is set to become a major part of our future, particularly in aviation.  We talk about some of the myths and hopes for hydrogen and how she has carried herself along in engineering, a discipline that is still dominated by men.  

Khaoula has such a positive attitude towards equality and diversion in engineering. This comes from being in a nurturing work environment, where gender equality is encouraged and an openness to diversity is practiced. She also has healthy work/life boundaries, but this wasn't always the case. Khaoula approaches life with logic and rationality, all the things you would expect from a process engineer and she shares her wisdom with us on how to feel like and be an empowered women in STEM.

Ujjwal Chahal is a data scientist stemming from an education in software engineering in India. Having qualified from Imperial College in London, she know analyses data to improve business. I got a chance to chat to her about her south east Asian roots and how that has affected her career path in a typically male dominated industry and get to learn a thing or two about standing strong in your own skin, after having been replanted away from your cultural roots.

Chinwe Odili is originally a civil engineer now working in offshore. She has taken the time to really get to know herself and her heritage, which has given her the confidence to stand strong as an under represented person in her industry. There is clearly so much power in truly knowing yourself.

Abby is pretty outstanding. So passionate about her research with many strings to her bow! It's inspiring to hear her focus and determination. She's certainly someone who works hard and takes none of her talents and skills for granted. In today's world where everything is about the surface, she's making a point of looking beyond what's superficial - and not just with turbine blades!

Dr. Cat Gardner was a girl from Grimsby, who wasn't a straight A student, but now has a PhD in Physics and bags of experience to be able to command authority with her expertise amongst her 90% male-dominated team at Rolls-Royce. I'd say she's empowered. She opens up to us about her career journey and the personal development she has embarked upon to boost her confidence and pride in who she is today, because that didn't come with her achievements. Cat is completely lovely and really inspiring. Check this convo out!

Fiyin is just starting out on her own career journey, but she is already helping other women in Nigeria through a charity she started, which provides them with access to further education after secondary school. In her short career in Finance, she has already learned so much about resilience, self-belief and determination and she shares all of that with us in this conversation..

I speak to family friend that I haven't seen in decades. We cover a variety of topics, including allowing children to discover their purpose and how the educational system can be shaken up! We put the world to rights in this heavily abridged conversation, where you get to be a fly on the wall, as two Sri Lankan women catchup on old and new times!

Megan Pormer has worked hard on her education, her emotional well-being, her health and her inner contentment and connection to a power greater than herself. As a strong Iranian woman, educated in the UK and currently living and working in the USA she has finally found independence. Megan radiates beauty, not only externally but most importantly from within.  She has found freedom through adversity, despite systems which tried to keep her muted for so long. Her words made me question my own inner narratives and constraints and they will do the same for you too. We all want to live with purpose and peace and Megan shares her own roadmap in finding hers.

As a woman in STEM having completed a degree in Zoology, Laura now finds herself in the middle of a debate between government, education, industry and youth on encouraging people into STEM. It's a tough task to unite everyone in this discussion and Laura is tackling this firmly, one step at a time, by asking young people what they want!

Fran Scott is a true engineer at heart. She loves making stuff and her work is highly visual and exciting at she plays with fire and makes things explode, in order to shows audiences how fun and wondrous STEM can be! Our conversation gets really honest and heartfelt as we discuss the discuss the choices and reflections we have made as women in predominantly male-industries and celebrate the fact that we are doing exactly what we love!

Grazia Vittadini is a magnificent women and completely in her power. She's smart beyond comprehension speaking five languages with a penchant for the arts as well as the sciences. Yet her most alluring quality is her emotional intelligence. She knows exactly how to maintain her superiority when others are trying to drag her down - and she does this in the most humble, kind and fairest of ways. She is also a ballet-dancing engineer and one of my favourite role models to date. This episode can't be missed.

This conversation was more of a mentoring session for me! Judith is so accomplished yet so wise and chilled. Often as intelligent women, we want to prove our intelligence to the world and get angry when not acknowledged for our brains - Judith knows exactly how to handle such circumstances, having been in many male dominated situations with her research and them with grace, power and laughs! She is truly empowered.

Becky's journey into engineering hasn't been conventional! She didn't follow the classic maths physics route. However, she caught the F1 racing bug, ever since attending the UK Grand Prix - and now she's a design engineer working on the cars themselves! Find out how she fell into her dream job, her story is inspiring for anyone wanting to follow their own career dreams, despite the odds...

In this conversation, Dawn Bonfield, MBE and I get extremely honest about the problems that still exist in engineering. We are a long way off from being diverse and inclusive in this industry and there are still many things that need to change. We discuss why change is necessary and the small steps that can be taken to breakdown the bias that exists in the development of future technologies.

Talking to Claire Rose was up-lifting. Civil engineering finally seems to be changing for the better, to be more inclusive. Companies realise the positive impact of diverse teams on their success. Homogenous groups of engineers simply cannot not effectively design infrastructure for an entire population. Women and other underrepresented groups are essential for broadening design scopes. Claire Rose talks to us about her decade-long career in the industry and why now has been a good time to balance her career with recently becoming a first time mum.

Zainab Adigun, a structural engineer and mother of twin boys can do anything she puts her mind towards.  After our conversation, it was clear that very little holds us back, other than what is between our ears.  She has been through trails and challenges juggling motherhood and career, and what got her through all of it was her resilient attitude and strong and supportive inner circle.  Its women like her that makes you realise, it is possible to ‘have it all'.

Dr. Leanne Armitage was recognised by HM Queen Elizabeth II for her charity, The Armitage Foundation, which aims to increase the diversity and inclusivity in medicine. She is also a very inspiring young woman who owns her underprivileged background, knowing that it gave her empathy and compassion towards others. Her work is crucial and her story is uplifting.

When Whitney Udigwe (a STEM A'Level student) reached out to me via my website asking for mentorship, she got me thinking about how mentorship might help others too. In the first of its kind, I aim to answer all questions that Whitney has about her own career direction and I'm sharing this conversation with you. Around the age of 16-18 we usually have to make big decisions about our careers. In this episode of eSTEAMd people, I aim to share my experiences so that we can be a little wiser about our own life decisions!

After we have laid our HM Queen Elizabeth II to rest, time seems to be revealing what she meant to me. She was a symbol of duty, service and purpose. I edited this conversation with Computer Engineer, Sanskriti Devi with this in mind and what I have learned from our Queen and see from Sanskriti is that knowing one's purpose in life is key. Knowing what you were put on this Earth to do, allows you to focus and surrender to your role. It seems that Sanskriti is unravelling and following her true purpose in STEM and it's working out for her.

Women in Innovation and Technology share their experiences and what they have learned in order to survive and thrive in a male-dominated world. In this episode, we hear from sisters Abigail (scientists) and Donna (Engineer) about the network of STEM sisters they are trying to create.  This conversation is so heart-warming because you feel the actual sisterhood between a biomedical scientist and mechanical engineer, who genuinely want to share this support and encouragement with other women in STEM.     Check out this podcast by Dr. Shini Somara, a mechanical engineer and media broadcaster, who aims to have honest and raw conversations about what it's really like being an empowered woman in today's world.

5 years later and I still have weekly conversations with incredible women in STEM. why, because it keeps me humble and grateful as a human being. This conversation was no different. It took a sudden twist when I learned that she had lost her Dad. My own Dad has been such a massive influence in my own life. He has probably been at the core of all my life decisions, some positively driven and some driven by a little bit of resentment. This conversation reminded me that we all go through challenges, but you keep fighting to help others and pursue your purpose. No matter what.

I grew up watching Maggie Philbin on Tomorrow's World, the stories she covered on this iconic BBC science and tech magazine show, were the core of many family discussion at the dinner table, about pie in the eye tech that would be part of our future.  All of these ideas came true and now Maggie has turned her attention to inspiring diversity into science and technology through teenagers!  She offers a fresh and alternative perspective to encouraging and supporting people into STEM, and over 40 years later, she continues to push boundaries in this male-dominated field.      

In this conversation we talk about striving to achieve it all and get realistic about the challenges and sacrifices involved in ticking all of the boxes as a woman in engineering and STEM. Its amazing how the first few years of our lives shape the rest of our futures too!

UNIQ+ research internships are designed to provide students from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds who are ordinarily resident in the UK, with the opportunity to experience postgraduate study. Dr. Tom Crawford (mathematician/fluid dynamicist), Dr. Sagida Bibi (immunologist) and I get together on a panel to talk about our experiences doing doctorates. Its a 90-min chat, where we take questions from the audience. The sound is not great on this recording, but I wanted to be able to share this experience with you all!

This conversation gets really honest about under representation in STEM and life. We open up about cultural differences and navigating being different! This conversation offers so much solution, but also gets raw about the problems. This episode is an eye-opener to mental well-being and empowerment.

It's so inspiring meeting young women who have a strong drive and ambition to build careers in STEM.  Thendral Kamal is one of those women.  She is so focussed on becoming the first Indian woman on Mars, that she is leaving no stone unturned in getting there.  Not only is she an aerospace engineering student, but she is also so knowledgeable about NASA, that one would think that she already works there.  If you are feeling a bit lack lustre about your own path in life, listen to this episode and it will give you the rocket boost you need to realise your own greatest potential.   

She is an engineer through and through. She sees the world through an engineering lens. Totally head led, totally, rational and loving protocol, because it allows her to think outside of the box and solve problems - like all great engineers do. She's a mechanical engineer and more, who believes in the power of repeatability. Practice is key, which she applies to all multi-dimensions of herself. Nika is such an interesting person and is a great speaker - I highly recommend this conversation, for a boost towards your own goals and dreams in life - Nika is a truly motivating force.

Watch out boys, girls are increasing in empowerment. We want independence and don't want to have to rely or report to men. Its time to level up to what women bring to the table! Prachi Gupta was raised in India, a place where women are still assumed to have a subordinate role to men, but the young women of India are starting to find this mentality completely unacceptable to them and in this conversation, we hear what they are doing about it through STEM…

Anete Dowling is passionate about machine learning, especially when applied to social robotics.  She works hard and pushes herself to be the best she can be in this field.  At the same time, she has also been blessed with good looks because she is also a fashion model.  I have a chat with her about doing these seemingly contrasting jobs and I find her attitude towards her work really refreshing and really current for our times.  Why should any of us try and squeeze ourselves into pigeon holes, when we can enjoy all that life has to offer us instead!  I'm all for the idea of being the best possible version of yourselves, however multi-dimensional that may be.  

Chloe Sales is truly inspiring.  Our conversation contained so many mic-drop moments because she has clearly done a lot of soul-searching.  Her early 20's were hard as she muddled around figuring out what to do.  However, she has surely found her groove with work as a welder, and discovered a treasure trove of confidence, resilience and strength of character.  I need to listen to the episode on a regular basis, there are so many gems of wisdom her.  It really is true that out of darkness comes light.

Michi Benthaus has been through a lot and that has only made her stronger and more determined to chase after the things she really wants in life. She wants a career in space and despite not feeling like the brightest mathematician and physicist, she is nevertheless fascinated by the industry. Michi knows that successful careers are determined by hardworking and persistence and using these traits that she has in abundance combined with the fact that she is unique in the field of aerospace, she will go far. It's always great to hear other people's stories because it helps us to carve out our own attitudes towards life.

Jessica Gagan could be my sister, in the way she thinks, the way she approaches life and how determined and focussed she is to live her best life.  I learned so much from my conversation with her this week.  She is so strong and confident about what she wants in life, and I think that is where I was truly inspired.  Jessica doesn't apologise for being beautiful, as well as brainy.  On top of that she is so humble.  Yet, her humility keeps her grounded, whilst her education in Aerospace Engineering and fashion modelling are taking off.  Thanks Jess for running with the cards you have been dealt, you are a role model for many of us, because you've worked hard for what you have.  You gave me permission today to own how hard worked for my own education.  Engineering is not easy, but engineers really are the best.  

Shrouk is so many things as well as being a badass electronics engineer. Before even speaking a word she inspires people by just being Shrouk. She doesn't fit into a norm and that is was is so fascinating and empowering for others. We discuss being different. Multi-dimensional and determine to expand the public perception of engineer. We didn't have much time to speak, but we covered a lot of revealing ground, in my my honest conversation on eSTEAMd yet.

Kristin really is the future of engineering. She has so much enthusiasm for problem solving, but more interestingly, she has so much confidence in just being herself. She doesn't have that outdated attitude of apologising for being female, awkwardness for being multi-talented or shyness for being different from her mostly male peers. With that attitude comes success. She wants others to excel, as well as herself. She wants a world that is full of equal opportunities for all, and I believe she will be leading the way, certainly within engineering.

Dr. Samanatha Micklewright is a clinical scientist and mechanical engineer. She has spent many years studying to collect 2 Masters, and a PhD, purely to secure her dream job. In now working for the NHS she gets to exercise her engineering and clinical skills simultaneously. To me, her story is one of dedication and commitment to applying her intrinsic talents and skills. She's a multi-dimensional person, who cares about helping others and every choice and decision she has made about her career has been a string to her bow. No career is ever linear - sometimes we choose things which don't seem obvious to supporting the overall end game. But no experience is wasted, if you learn from them.