• Question: How old were you when you first wanted to become an engineer?

    Asked by Keira Williams to Vinita, Rachel, Pam, Christopher, Brian, Andrew on 10 Mar 2019. This question was also asked by amber, 286spcq29, 418sansfromtheundertale41.
    • Photo: Christopher Youens

      Christopher Youens answered on 10 Mar 2019:

      Growing up I wanted to be a pilot, and felt my best route into that after Sixth Form was do go get an Aerospace Engineering degree. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and wanted to work in the aerospace industry after graduation, it wasn’t until I was in my mid-20s that I realised I wanted to work in the space industry and went back to university to study in that field.

    • Photo: Vinita Marwaha Madil

      Vinita Marwaha Madil answered on 11 Mar 2019:

      I wanted to be an astronaut when I was young and I was inspired by Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut when I was around 6. I’ve always been interested in space and studied Maths & Physics with Astrophysics and heard about a great organisation called UKSEDS (UK Students for the Exploration and Development of Space), where I met space operations engineers for the first time, including somebody I would end up working with 5 years later in Germany.
      UKSEDS allowed me to interact with professionals from space agencies and education. Rather than space being a dream and something I read about, suddenly it felt attainable. If you’re interested in space, the International Space University (ISU) also has some fantastic courses!

    • Photo: Rachel Hudson

      Rachel Hudson answered on 11 Mar 2019:

      I only really knew what engineering was when I met some friends studying it at university (so about 19 years old). I thought their degree sounded really interesting and useful but I was already studying Physics…. Then when I graduated I found this job advertised and applied anyway! Turns out that you don’t need to always know what you want to do in the future, there will always be good opportunities for hardworking people 🙂

    • Photo: Pam Anderson

      Pam Anderson answered on 11 Mar 2019:

      I was probably around 17. I was finishing School and went to NASA in Houston as part of the Scottish Space School. I met lots of really inspiring engineers while I was there and that opened my eyes to engineering. Until then I wanted to be a primary school teacher!

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