Women in Brunel Engineering and Computing Mentoring Newsletter · Women in BrunelEngineering and...

Women in Brunel Engineering and Computing

Mentoring Newsletter

In this Issue

Celebrating our achievements p2

Industry encouraging talent p4

International Women inEngineering p6

New FaCE Programme p9

Industry visits p10

Events timeline p12

Issue 6 September 2017

Brunel-WIBEC Newsletter6-080817_Layout 1 30/08/2017 15:23 Page 1

2Brunel University London www.brunel.ac.uk

WiBEC Newsletter Issue 6

Celebrating ourachievements At the end of May we were delighted to welcomementors and mentees to celebrate the end of thementoring programme.Prof Stefaan Simons, Dean of the College of Engineering, Design andPhysical Sciences, confirmed that the programme goes from strengthto strength and then took the time to thank everyone involved –students, mentors and the companies. All participants were able totake a step back and reflect on their achievements and relationshipsformed as well giving valuable feedback about the programme andthe processes.

Competitive as ever, the mentors and mentees then took part in aRobotic challenge delivered by our award winning team of eightSTEM Ambassadors. Interestingly the competition seemed most fiercebetween colleagues from the same company – the overall winnerwas…..Instron. Lots of fun and laughter and thank you to LesleyWarren and her team.




“Providing support to someone in their early

career, hopefully helping themalong the way. I feel, both

personally and professionally, that itis important to give something backto the professions, and that thispoint in a mentee’s career is one of

the key steps to support.”

Sarah Templey,

Amec Foster-Wheeler

Bestmoments...Mentee“Knowing that someone has chosen toinvest their time in my development.”

“Discovering that I actually hadstrengths, where before I only thoughtof my weaknesses.”

“The happiness on my mentor's facewhen she got to know I secured aninternship.”

“Seeing positive results after usingadvice given by my mentor.”

Mentor“Getting to know her - she is afantastic student and ambassador forwomen in engineering.”

“Understanding the challengesstudents face in a world that is socompetitive and demanding. It was apleasure to see the drive and energythat young people have.”

“The reward of seeing my mentee'sconfidence grow.”

“I enjoyed the trainings and theStrength Finding workshops where Icould learn new skills.”

Successes this year• 105 mentors volunteering from 49 differentcompanies

• 87 female students successfully mentored -increase of 33% across 73 courses - rangingfrom second year to Masters' level

• 26 bespoke events, funded by Brunel, wereoffered to mentees to develop their skills andgive them the chance to network withindustry

• 1000+ hours of advice and guidance andsupport for our students

New for 2017/181. Offering mentoring to 10 students studyingMathematics

2. Experienced mentors to buddy new mentors

3. We are partnering with Silver Pebble Ltd, anapproved centre of the CharteredManagement Institute to offer mentors theopportunity to achieve a recognisedqualification in coaching and mentoring

Students - take this advice from

the menteesDon't be afraid to ask questions

Be yourself

Attend as many events as possible

Be open, the mentors are here to help you and they can even learn from you

Take advantage of the opportunity from the start

Keep in contact with your mentor throughout the year, drop them an email

to see how they're doing

Have more face to face meetings

Contact my mentor more frequently

Set up a two week update

Be better at following up from networking events

Indu

stry




My journey to placement

Eli Lilly visited theUniversity in October 2016.I applied for a placement in the same week as myinterest in medicine,helping people andtechnology made this a perfect fit.

The first round of interviews was heldon campus in the placement office,which added an extra bit ofwell-needed comfort to a tensesituation. The second interview was agreat experience at Eli Lilly’sWindelsham offices. I met otherinterviewees and students currentlyon placement whilst networking witha few of their senior employees andgetting a tour.

By the end of December I had anofficial letter congratulating me onmy success along with other usefulinformation such as my start date,role and where I will be based whenworking.

During this process Mo Rahman fromBrunel’s Professional DevelopmentCentre was extremely helpful. Fromhelping me write and correct my CV,to practicing questions for theinterviews. WiBEC Mentoring wasalso a great help. My confidence hasincreased with each event and thesupport from my mentor has helpedme significantly, not just forplacement application, but for generalworries throughout the year such asprojects and exams stress.

After December, WiBEC become aplace where I could offer advice toother students looking for placements

and hear testimonials and get advicefrom those who were in their finalyear. There is fantastic supportespecially from Giselle who I washappily surprised to see at myfamiliarisation day at Eli Lilly. Thepositivity and support that was givenon that day by the Eli Lilly team madethe whole experience so rewarding.

WiBEC prepared me well for myfamiliarisation day which consisted ofa selection of a few team buildinggames, presentations on thecompany, a mini fair providinginformation on social life and livingarrangements and a chance to go toyour department to meet yourcolleagues. The part that worried memost was the team building games.However, they turned out to be veryenjoyable, they helped break the iceand made the day more relaxed,especially since I had five othersuccessful Brunel students attendingwith me.

The most enjoyable and informativepart of the day was meeting thepeople I will be working with andconnecting with the student whom Iwill be replacing. I was also given a lotof information about my role as aBusiness Analyst. My focus will beliaising with expert IT groups andexternal service providers to deliverwith quality, speed and value andensuring documented processes arein place for all activities to ensure thatan environment of quality ismaintained. I will also carry out otherprojects which will be announcedonce I start my placement.

I am extremely excited for thisopportunity; I was reluctant to do a

placement however, I am glad Idecided to pursue one. There are somany benefits to doing a placementyear, one of which is learning yourrole in a real working environment.Completing a placement cansometimes lead directly toemployment with the same or similaremployer following graduation. It canbe “a foot in the door” that could leadto a temporary or permanentcontract. I would highly urge anystudent to take a placement year.

Danielle Urie, IT BusinessIntegrator and UK ITStudent ProgrammeLeader at Eli Lilly

Hearing Nicole’s experience ofher interactions with Eli Lillythroughout the recruitmentprocess is great and I am glad tohear she found it enjoyable. Wereally do try our utmost best tomake it a seamless andstress-free process!

Our UK IT Student Programme atEli Lilly has been running for over35 years and we continue to getvery talented individuals fromBrunel so I am excited to meetthis next intake of students! Overthe next year, we will continue topartner with the University byoffering a number of our ITemployees as mentors for theWiBEC Mentoring Programme.We see huge value in developingthe next generation of talent andthe reward of seeing studentsgrow in confidence is trulyinvaluable.

Nicole Baboolal-Taylor, studying Computer Science BSc, and mentored by Martin Simmons, Managing Director of Marsworth Computing Ltd




Brunel Engineers Showcase 2017Compressed air locomotiveshines at Brunel Engineers and the Railway Challenge

Crizel Castro,Computer ScienceBSc, mentored byAndrew Edney,Intragen Ltd,receiving the prizefor Best PerformanceGrade in WorkExperience Module2015/16

Nita Rabadia,Director ofSpecification &Technical Assuranceand Brunel alumna,awarding The NitaRabadia FemaleEngineer Award forthe most innovativeproject by a femaleengineer to DanielaRowe, BEngElectronic andComputerEngineering.

Frazer-Nash's Mark Dorn presentsSTEM outreach prizeFrazer- Nash Consultancy havesupported the Mentoringprogramme for 3 consecutiveyears and this year invitedBrunel students who had actedas STEM role models to applyfor their award. They had toshow how they had inspired,motivated and helped youngpeople to understand STEMsubjects. The prize wasawarded to Mohammed Khan,BEng, Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering.

Business Director, Mark Dorn said: “I was delighted to presentthis well-deserved prize to Mohammed. As a leading systems andengineering consultancy, Frazer-Nash’s people make a realdifference to our clients in the power, aerospace, transport, anddefence sectors, and we’re committed to inspiring young peopleto take up a career in science, technology, engineering or mathsrelated disciplines. In the future, we know that these students,and the young people they have inspired to understand andparticipate in STEM subjects, will help make a real difference too.”

In February 2017, Joanna Joss, one of ourfinal year Business Computing students,won the Worshipful Company ofInformation Technologists Gold Award.Judges particularly looked for evidenceof one or more of the followingcharacteristics: academic excellence/overcoming adversity/entrepreneurialskills/contribution to charity orcommunity. Jo won the top award withone other student, from the University of

Oxford. Jo has been mentored this year by Miles Mulholland of IBMUK and commences her graduate role at Eli Lilly this summer.

The projects exhibited in the Showcase demonstrate thetalent and ability of students to generate ideas andconcepts, and apply design principles to drive innovation.Achievement awards are sponsored by our industrypartners. Clancy Consulting Ltd, Frazer-Nash Consultancy,and Nita Rabadia support the WiBEC mentoringprogramme and have also sponsored new awards this year.

A locomotive powered by compressed air caught thejudges’ eyes at Brunel Engineers, and at the sixthannual IMechE Railway Challenge. Six students fromacross three of our Engineering disciplinesparticipated in the unique compressed air-propulsionsystem build of the railway locomotive. One of the sixis a mentee on the programme, Nuraiman SyafiqahBinti Musa, MEng Electronic and ElectricalEngineering, mentored by Saif Ul Islam Malik, HanoviaLtd. The team won the TWI Prize at Brunel Engineersand the most Innovative Compressed Air Design atImechE Railway Challenge.

Clancy Consulting Ltdsponsor 3 awards

Again a long term supporter ofWiBEC Mentoring, ClancyConsulting Ltd presented theClancy Consulting Award forBest Civil Engineering Projectto five students: Alganit Tabir,Harmeet Saini, Harshal Varsani,Kirsty Greener (mentee on the WIBEC programme last year) andSobhan Khandani. Masters Best Dissertation and Best OverallStudent will be awarded at the November Award Body.



Women in Engineering Newsletter Issue 6

WiBEC and engineeringstudents from theHeathrow AviationEngineering UTC joinedMorgan Sindall’sInternational Women inEngineering Day(INWED17) celebrationsat Heathrow on the 23June 2017. When wearrived at Starlight Pointwe were met by femaleengineers from MorganSindall, Turner &Townsend, HeathrowAirport and FerrovialAgroman.

Caroline Sheridan, Heathrow’sDevelopment Director kicked off theevent by describing her career journeyand highlighted the many variedopportunities that are available if youhave vision, are hard working andfocussed. She has proudly been able toshow her children the buildings,bridges and airport aprons that shehad designed and built – when she was

“on the tools”. Engineering is such atangible industry. Caroline alsoimpressed on the students that it ispossible for women to achieveprofessionally and also manage afamily and a personal life.

After an unplanned fire alarm and adetailed health and safety briefing byGiorgios, Site Engineer for MorganSindall, we were then kitted out in

PPE so that we could visit HeathrowAirport’s Eastern Balancing Reservoirproject. Giorgios led the tour andexplained in detail the complicationsof running a site where old and newtechnologies run side by side asimprovements are made. At any onetime there are 40 operatives andengineers on site with three separateentrances – a logistical complication.

Brunel University London inpartnership the Environment Agencyalso ran a webinar on InternationalWomen in Engineering Day on thefollowing topic: 'Only 9% of girlsgo into engineering careers,despite it being a hugely

important career which has thepotential to change the world.How can we make engineering amore attractive career option for

girls?' The webinar featuredspeakers from industry such as

Louise Hall, named as one of the Top50 female engineers in The Timeslist and Dr Carola Koenig, CourseDirector for Brunel's new Flood andCoastal Engineering programme.




Within the perimeter fence,Heathrow Airport covers an area of1047 hectares, which includes a largeproportion of impermeable areas.These are the concrete runways andtaxiways that are used by aircraft,building roofs and other structuresthat are important to the operationof any hub airport. Heathrow has anextensive drainage networkto capture and treat anyrainfall runoff that has highlevels of BiochemicalOxygen Demand (BOD)and therefore minimiseany impact on waterquality. Thisinfrastructure iscollectivelyreferred to as thePollution ControlSystem and combines differentwater management techniques and

technologies to treat airport runoffwith higher levels of BOD. TheHeathrow pollution control system ismade up of three major catchmentsincluding the Eastern CatchmentBalancing Reservoir dischargingrainfall runoff from the PollutionControl System into the River Crane.

The de-icing products in use atHeathrow act as food for naturally

occurring bacterial, which breakthem down using

oxygen in the water.This can result in lowoxygen levels in thereceiving water bodyand contribute tosewage fungus growths.The improvements areintended to take thesenatural processes andconcentrate them in atreatment facility at Eastern

Balancing Reservoir. Improvementsin infrastructure designed to trapde-icer at source will help to managepeak loads but will not replace theneed for ‘end of pipe’ technology.

The proposed infrastructureimprovements have been developedover several years to try and balancethe complicated relationshipsbetween airport operations, thefunction of the existing pollutioncontrol infrastructure and weatherconditions with providing the bestenvironmental outcome for the RiverCrane and the local environment.

After our tour we had some informalnetworking conversations with theprofessional female engineers.Students realised that it is importantto research many companies andengineering roles, sometimes outsideof their specific course to find theright fit for them.

Left to right Viji Uthayakumar, Khadijah Mohammad, Harshitha Umashankar, JulianaByzyka, Chonticha Praditsakul, Jessica Nguyen, Karina Mudjahid




A Mentor’s storyFelicity Fashade

Felicity Fashade is Head ofEngineering Performancewithin BAE Systems MaritimeNaval Ships business unit,where she works to build andsustain a high-performanceculture across engineeringoperations. She graduatedwith a degree in Electricaland Electronic Engineeringfrom Brunel UniversityLondon in 1997 andcompleted an MBA (Mastersin Business Administration)in 2005. She has 20 yearsexperience withinengineering, working withindefence, systems andsoftware engineering beforemoving into managerialroles. Felicity has also givenguest lectures at theUniversity of Cambridge,Bristol Science Museum andthe Royal AeronauticalSociety and is justcompleting her first year as aWiBEC Mentor.It was Felicity’s Physics teacher atsecondary school that inspired herfrom a young age. She tells us thathis passion for space explorationsparked off her enthusiasm forscience and technology. She wasone of the team members whoparticipated in the radiocommunications with HelenSharman, our first British astronautwhilst she was in space. Herpassion for space, science andtechnology grew apace after that.

Felicity says “I grew up in HongKong, where engineering was aprestigious profession, andelectronic engineers were amongthe best paid. After I graduated inthe UK, I spent a lot of time trying

to persuade people that it’s not allhard hats and spanners. But evennow when I speak to students andpupils I find there’s still anold-fashioned view of engineering,and that’s disappointing, but itmakes me more determined tochange it.

I joined the defence sector at anexciting time – the company Iworked for, MBDA, had developeda long-range air-launchedfire-and-forget missile, StormShadow, and we were creatingguidance algorithms to guide themissiles from launch to target withgreat accuracy.

Being a systems engineer isstrategic. You have to sit back,consider your clients’ views andharness people’s expertise. Youneed to communicate the impactof a project clearly and clarify acustomer’s requirements.

We all hear about the need forgood communication but this canbe harder than you think in largeteams. I tell my children that even ifyou are brilliant, you can’t alwaysgo it alone. Recently I was on boardthe Queen Elizabeth-class carrier(the Navy’s flagship warship beingbuilt in Scotland) where some2,500 people were working onboard each day round the clock.The level of coordination andcooperation that is needed amongdifferent teams is immense. Thebest engineers are those who caninfluence people as well asapproach a problem systematically.

I’ve undertaken so many differentchallenges over my career. I’vemade some demanding transitionsfrom one specialism to another –from systems to softwareengineering and a major IT project,and then to ethics and management.

Within the defence sector,engineering is a fine springboardto new roles, and to management.I was lucky to do my MBArelatively early. It gave me toolsand methodology to apply morewidely in business. All theexperiences you get as anengineer – problem solving, teamwork, understanding clients –these develop your essentialleadership skills.

Being a mentor is a veryrewarding experience. Abilityto share our own knowledgeand experiences with others isvital to enable individuals togrow and make those veryimportant life-changingdecisions. Since I became achartered engineer in 2004, I had the pleasure to mentormany internal and externalengineers at different stages oftheir careers. What has beeninteresting for me is that everymentor and menteerelationship is unique and Ihave learnt to adapt to meettheir needs and support them.”




New programme to help theEnvironment Agency FaCE the future

The UK faces huge challenges around thedevelopment, attraction and retention ofskilled engineers, and this poses aconsiderable threat to many industries,including civil engineering and flood riskmanagement. Brunel University London,the Environment Agency and HRWallingford have teamed up to deliverinnovative higher education courses thatwill train and inspire the next generationof flood and coastal engineers.

Flooding can have a devastating impact on people,communities and the environment. To help address thischallenge, for the past 14 years the EnvironmentAgency has been investing in higher education todevelop the next generation of flood engineers.

Brunel University London and HR Wallingford aredelivering a new Flood and Coastal Engineering (FaCE)programme for the Environment Agency. Working inpartnership, we’ve developed a new:

• Foundation Degree in Flood and CoastalEngineering which will meet the educationalrequirements to achieve Engineering Technician;

• BSc (top up) in Flood and Coastal Engineeringwhich will meet the educational requirements toachieve Incorporated Engineer; and,

• MSc in Flood and Coastal Engineering which willmeet the educational requirements to achieveChartered Engineer.

The new programme is practically based with a strongemphasis on placements. The course is innovative,combining flood and coastal engineering subject areastaught by many of the people responsible fordeveloping industry standard guidance and many ofthe methodologies used in practice.

Graduates of the Foundation Degree will then get theopportunity to gain a full BSc, and attend University(and HR Wallingford) on a two-year block weekrelease scheme.

An MSc qualification has been designed specifically forexisting Environment Agency and Risk ManagementAuthority staff, allowing them to return to university ona two-year block week release scheme.

For more information on the Flood and CoastalEngineering courses, please see:www.brunel.ac.uk/face




“Surprisingly it doesn’t matter which course we’regraduating from, as long as there ispassion, then you

can make things work.”

Coca Cola European Partners –Edmonton LondonThis trip was made possible thanks to Innovia,working with our alumna, Margherita Barlotti,Upstream Production Team Leader at CCEP,who graduated with an MSc in EngineeringManagement in 2015 and is also an activesupporter of the Women in Brunel Engineeringand Computing Mentoring programme.

We were given a tour into their amazingfacilities and discussed current issues from theirsustainability plan to health to businessstrategy surrounding CCEP’s operations. Oneof the core themes of discussion included theenterprise’s move towards renewable solutionsto reduce the environmental impact of theiractivities whilst preserving the quality of theirproduction. CCEP’s factory in Wakefieldharness 15% of the required electricity from asolar farm as part of the business’s majorswitch to powering 100% of its energyrequirements from renewable sources by 2020.

BAE Systems New Malden

@BrunelWiBEC @BruneluniThank you for making ithappen! It was an invaluable& fascinating experience. SI & CMS presentations

were my fave!

Royal School of Military Engineers“We certainly appreciated the calibre and levelof presenters – we were very lucky indeed tomeet the Brigadier.”

"We were particularly interested in the watersalination equipment. Indeed some of us hadsome ideas of how to enhance the equipment!"

BAE Systems Portsmouth – Royal Navy HQ“The visit was insightful. The ship usedcomposite materials, changes being madeinclude three engines to be reduced to two andintroduction of modern technology.”

“Delicious lunch and interesting narration of thehistory of the dockyard.”

“5/5 would recommend to others and want togo again! The whole visit was full of knowledge about ships and the setting was wonderful. It was brilliant!”

Between October and August - 26bespoke events were offered to studentmentees to develop their skills and give

them the chance to network with industry.




MENTORING TRAINING AD

Introduction to Mindfulness: An experiential workshop - Monday 4 December 2017

SummaryAn experiential introduction to the principles of Mindfulness toallow you to learn and immerse yourself in a selection of practicesand tips to take away to help you prepare for forthcoming examsand other challenges you may face whilst studying.

Workshop details The workshop will introduce Mindfulness by explaining the neuroscience of the practice as well as allowing the group to experiencea number of different group exercises throughout the session.

Tools for the future Tips and guidance to take away and follow up email with a guidedmeditation and recommended reading.

20 spaces available - to reserve a spacewww.brunel.ac.uk/women-in-brunel-engineering-and-computing

Ruth Farenga isfounder andMindfulness teacherat Mindful Pathway.She is also aself-employedworkshop facilitatorand project manager specialising ineducation, gender diversity andmindfulness theory and practice. She isa long-term contractor for the WISECampaign (Women in Science,Engineering and Technology).

‘You can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf’

www.mindfulpathway.co.uk




WiBEC Mentoring Programme of Events 2017/2018Registration for all events can be found on our webpage:www.brunel.ac.uk/women-in-brunel-engineering-and-computing

Introduction to programmefor students Followed by Hire STEM Women workshop/Accenture presentation toInternational students

Mentee training

Application closes forstudents (13th)

Matching process completed

Hayward Tyler Open Day,Luton

Autumn Careers Fair

An Evening with Accenture

Introduction to CharteredManagement Institute (CMI)qualification

Training & Induction Mentors

Launch of Programme andstart of mentoring

Guide to Assessment Centres

Women in IT panel hosted byMoody’s, London

WES Student Conference,Birmingham

A day at Galliford Try, Gatwick

Application closes for industry partners wishing to be mentors

Introduction to Mindfulness: An experiential workshop

Hire STEM Women Coaching Day

CMI workshop

Innovia Christmas Dinner

OCTOBER

JANUARY

How to look good on paper

A day at Bosch, Denham

How to use your top 5 strengths workshopand social

Tomorrow’s Tech Leaders Today

Summer picnicand social

National Womenin EngineeringDay Celebrations

• 100 Days at Hitachi Rail• Heathrow Airport Site visit • Informal socials

Other events will include

Interview techniques

A day at BAE Systems,Glasgow

Networking Communication Skills

Speed Networking

Mock Interviews /Assessment Centre/Presentation workshopsled by industry

MAY

SEPTEMBER

EVENTS

2017

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

FEBRUARY

Celebration andfeedback event – end of mentoring for UG

CMI workshop

JUNE JULY 2018EVENTS

End of mentoringfor postgraduates

SEPTEMBER

MARCH

Contact Giselle Hayward, Women inEngineering Mentoring Manager if you wouldlike to be involved in the programme [email protected]@BrunelWiBEC


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