Profile

I’m working in the Rail Industry, and started off as a Mechanical Engineer. I am Charted with the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. I currently work as a Systems Engineer, and and certified with the International Council of Systems Engineers.

I love near Reading with my husband. We have two Springer Spaniels. I volunteer with GirlGuiding UK as a Brownie Leader.

I work for a company called East West Rail. We are working to provide a new train service between Oxford and Cambridge. We will be using some of the existing stations and rail route that is currently there. We also will be building some new stations and train track. We will need to get some new trains to use on this route.

My job is to make sure that all of these components work together, that they can be used by different groups of people, such as staff (such as train drivers) and customers, and that it is safe to use by everyone.

I usually get to the office around 7:30am. My typical day can vary. Some days, I may have lots of meetings, other days I may go to visit a location. The types of locations I go to visit, include stations, railway track, train depots, and training locations.

The meetings and the visits are all important because I am gathering evidence to show that the new railway is being built correctly. The evidence comes in the form of drawings, calculations, photos, test results and many similar items. I talk to the people who are doing this detailed work and understand what they are doing, why they are doing it, and if it meets the needs of the customers who will use the railway.

Another important part of my job is to make sure the questions my team have to answer are the right questions. For example, if we need a train which has space for a wheelchair, then I make sure that the train manufacturer answers questions like, “is there room for the wheel chair to come through the door” or for the station staff: “will this passenger have enough time to get on the train?”

A third part of my job is to make sure that all the different systems will work together. For example, that the train will run on the train track, or that it is easy to use all the facilities at the station. It also includes interfaces like making sure that there is a good bus service to help people travel to get to the station, and to get back home.

If I am working in the office, I will normally finish around 4:30pm before going home. If I am going to visit a location, my start and finish times may be different, because I may need to travel to a different place.