Meet Lauren Scott – International Women in Engineering Day

Posted on 24/06/2020

As part of our International Women in Engineering Day’s celebrations we invited Lauren Scott, ESC’s Graduate Consultant to share a bit of her story and experiences as a woman starting her career in engineering.

Meet Lauren Scott

Lauren graduated last summer in Chemical Engineering at Loughborough University. She did a placement year at EDF Energy between 2017 – 2018 and joined ESC team as a Graduate Consultant in September 2019.

Here is Lauren’s interview.

What inspired you to become an engineer?

Engineering incorporates all of the subjects I enjoyed at school, including Physics, Chemistry and Maths. Having the opportunity to use these skills everyday to solve problems in the real world inspired me to pursue a degree in Chemical Engineering.

What do you do and what is the most challenging thing about your job?

I am a graduate consultant at ESC and have had the opportunity to work on a variety of functional safety studies since graduating last summer. Being fairly unfamiliar with the subject I initially found grasping the concepts and terminology of functional safety challenging. However, attending training courses and having the chance to put into practice what I have learnt has allowed me to gain more experience and become more confident when liaising with clients.

What have been some of your highlights working as an engineer?

The highlight of my career so far has been the exposure to so many different and interesting sectors within the engineering world. Having the chance to conduct safety studies on such a wide range of processes so early in my career has given me the knowledge and experience that I’ll carry through my working life.

What are the traits that you think make a good engineer?

Having an inherent curiosity for how things work, and problem-solving skills to find solutions when they don’t are traits of a good engineer. An attention to detail along with a creative mind are also great skills to have when it comes to improving processes. An ability to communicate effectively with colleagues and clients and work well as part of a team are also useful traits to have.

Do you have any female role models that you look up to?

The women that have the greatest influence on me are the ones I work with every day. Seeing the work carried out by female engineers at ESC and externally through meeting with clients shows what I can strive for in my career, and that being a woman does not limit your success in a male dominated workplace.

Have you seen a change in perception of women in engineering since you started your career?

I only started my career within the last 12 months so the perception of women in engineering hasn’t really changed. I’ve been lucky enough that being female hasn’t limited any opportunities or prevented me from achieving my goals. Hopefully International Women in Engineering day will continue to raise awareness of the work female engineers do and encourage more girls to consider a career in engineering.

What advice would you give girls/ woman thinking of starting a career?

There are so many roles within engineering that some girls aren’t made aware of when considering career options, so my advice would be to explore different industries as much as possible. If you have an interest in STEM subjects, then there will be a career in engineering that suits you!

Lets celebrate the Women in Engineering!

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