Women in Engineering #INWED19

In support of #INWED19 which celebrates the achievements of women in engineering, we sat down with our Product Support Engineer, Laura Anderson, who gave us a valuable insight into her career so far working in the engineering and defence industries.

How did you start your engineering career?

By the time I was 11-years-old, I had already decided that I wanted to join the Navy. It was an industry that had always inspired me, so I left school in 2001 and went for it straight away. I gained some vital City and Guilds qualifications, including leadership, engineering principles and communication, providing a platform that enabled me to kick-start my engineering career in the Navy.

During my Naval service I served on various warships and shore establishments, and was quickly rewarded with a promotion. My role was to work with a wide variety of equipment to provide continuous worldwide communications between ships and aircrafts of the fleet and with Navy command headquarters and other bases ashore. As a communicator, I was heavily involved with the compilation and transfer of data and signal information via radio and terrestrial links, operating high speed modems and overseeing the ship’s on-board networks.

What is your current position with Captec and day-to-day responsibilities?

My current responsibility is to serve as an expert on Captec products, finding solutions to problems and assisting customers with technical issues. I provide engineering support for all products, acting as the initial interface between manufacturing, sales and purchasing for queries and support requests.

I represent the engineering department at daily operations reviews and assist with the investigation of customer complaints. I also participate in regular design reviews for Captec products and assist with customer-driven design reviews whilst managing the initial build process.

What advice would you give to anyone who would like to get in to engineering?

With engineering, you have to enjoy problem solving and building solutions based on requirements. You need to be technically minded to produce specifications for customers and also possess a good team spirit to overcome any challenges that may arise.

If I could give one piece of advice to anyone who is considering a career in engineering, it would be to get yourself the initial qualifications you need and then jump straight in at the deep end. Push yourself to leave your comfort zone and you’ll reach your full potential!

To find out more about Captec’s build-to-order engineering services, click here.