Danielle Ellis:

Good Morning Angela,

Welcome to the UKRC blog, you have a really exciting story. Could you tell me more about the work you did building a school for the French NGO in Indonesia? I am intrigued by this, especially when you talk about playing hide and seek to dodge the police, this sounds risky!?

Thanks Danielle

Angela Crowther:

Hi Danielle,

Thank you for your welcome - it's really exciting to have a way to connect with people and share some of my engineering stories.

Last year I worked in Indonesia for a French NGO - Architectes de l'Urgence. I was put in charge of designing a school for 200 pupils and overseeing its construction. This was a big responsibility and a massive learning curve, but I am so happy to hear stories of the pupils now learning in it from my Indonesian friends.

Indonesia is a wonderful country to live in. The culture is very different to ours and the people are very friendly, pragmatic and calm under pressure. That said, unfortunately there are problems in government and it can be very difficult to get things done. The problem with being a foreigner was that if we got stopped whilst transporting construction materials, the police would have assumed I had lots of money and tried to elicit a bribe. Because of that we always used to turn those journeys into a game, exploring back streets and cross-country in a fully-loaded truck!

The school I built was one of the last projects in the rebuilding program after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. It was incredible to see how locals have turned their lives around. The best bits were definitely project milestones, when the entire village would cook an enormous curry on the beach!

I definitely advocate getting involved with the international development sector. As a student Engineers Without Borders is a fantastic organisation to join, giving members the chance to do research, training courses and placements abroad. It is an amazing feeling to use your skills and knowledge to help people.

Ben:

Hi Angela,

It sound as though you have made the most of your scholarships and have had some great experiences because of them. Two questions;

1) Where/how did you find out about the scholarships?

2) Do all of your experiences count towards becoming Chartered, and if so, do you think you will be Chartered sooner than if you hadn't done any of them?

Thank you, and enjoy your next experience, whatever it might be!

Ben

Angela Crowther:

Hi Ben,

Thank you for your questions.

Firstly, when I started out I was very lucky. I think the Smallpeice trust must have seen the subjects I was studying at A-level as a result of filling in an online quiz about future careers at school. Out of the blue they sent me information about their gap year scheme, which looked (and was) fantastic! That year gave me a taster of many types of engineering and an opportunity to work in an engineering company abroad.

Following my gap year I used the 'Engineering Opportunities' booklet to find out about all the opporunities that related institutions can offer. I'd urge everybody to use their websites too - these didn't really exist all the way back in my youth(!)

The scholarships that proved very helpful were the ICE QUEST scholarship and the RAENG Engineering Leadership Advanced Award. These provided me with some money, enabling me to go off and travel, study and work abroad. Even better, they helped me to get work experience during my summers by providing contacts. Personal development weekends, provided as part of the scholarships, taught me lots about business, leadership and management. They are also a good way to meet like-minded people and I have made some great friends and contacts as a result.

There are lots of opportunities out there - tonnes that I have been interested in but unable to pursue - and so the best thing to do is to keep an eye out and go for it!

With regards to Chartership, this is a test of competence as an engineer. Directly, therefore, I may not use my experiences so far as proof of my abilities as an engineer because I have lots still to learn. That said, I have had some great opportunities and have learnt lots of useful things, so I am sure they will all count towards making me a better engineer.

I hope that helps!

Helen:

Hi Angela,

What a fantastic ammount of energy and vitality comes across in your blog. I don't have a question for you but I am going to send the link to this blog to my contacts who work with schools etc because not only could it be forwarded to pupils to look at but no doubt will inspire the professionals that support them!

Helen

Angela Crowther:

Hi Helen,

Thank you for your post. It is really great to hear that people are finding the blog useful and thank you for helping to spread the word. I feel like I have been given so many fantastic opportunities and the best way for me to do something in return is help people coming into engineering both find out how to get involved and see that anything is possible.

Danielle:

Hi Angela,

It sounds like you role at Expedition is really exciting, could you tell me more about projects you have worked on?

thanks Danielle

Angela Crowther:

Hi Danielle,

Expedition is a great place to work. I've only been there for 5 months and am really enjoying it (no mean feat following my travel adventures!)

In the short time since I joined I have started to learn different forms of structural analysis on various projects, including a girls' school in central London and a new cultural centre (made up of an opera house and library) in Athens. The work spans researching design ideas to undertaking detailed sizing calculations. I have also completed a study on the embodied carbon used in constructing the 2012 Olympic Velodrome, an eye-opening way of understanding how good design increases material efficiency.

There are also plenty of wider opportunities, from aesthetics courses to softball games, lunchtime debates and getting involved in business development.

Really, I get to do a bit of everything and along the way use a mix of tools including powerful computer software, reading and sketching. Engineering has definitely given me the opportunity to diversify my skill set and knowing no two projects will ever be the same is what makes it so appealing.

Naheed Rehman:

Hi Angela
Really enjoyed reading your blog - I particularly love the pic of the finished classroom!
Can you tell us when you knew you wanted to be an engineer and how you went about pursuing this at an early age?

Ruth Wilson (moderator):

Hi Angela,

'Wangler' is clearly a brilliant career choice! I loved reading your blog, and the way you are involved with major social issues and inspiration.

You are going to join us in the Ingenious Women project http://www.theukrc.org/about-us/our-projects/ingenious-women , so blog readers will be able to find out more about your work as the project progresses.

The project is going to help a small group of women engineers raise their profile and help address the lack of female role models in this field. Is there a woman engineer who has inspired you along the way?

Angela Crowther:

Hi Naheed,

Thank you for your question, it made me smile. The reason is that I fell into engineering purely by chance!

Unfortunately careers advice was minimal at school and no-one was able to explain to me what engineering actually was and the spectrum of career opportunities the title encompasses. Luckily for me, my mum had been involved in WISE (Women Into Science and Engineering) so knew a bit more and was able to convince me I would enjoy studying some form of engineering. I have always loved design and had an interest in the built environment, so went down the strucural / architectural route with the caveat that I could always convert to another profession later.

It was once I started studying and got my foot in the door with the Royal Academy of Engineering through my gap year, that I began to understand how engineers shape the world and, by using engineering as a background, it is possible to get involved with almost anything.

Now I can't imagine I ever believed I wouldn't be an engineer - I just needed the value of hindsight to understand what engineering actually is! That is why initiatives such as this blog are so important. I am keen to help students discover this exciting profession at an earlier stage than I did.

Angela Crowther:

Hi Ruth,

Thank you for your comments. I am really looking forward to getting involved with the Ingenious Women project. There is a real need for female role models and engineering spokes people in general. I am sure I will find the experience of 'profile raising' both exciting and challenging!

With regards to my own role models, there are many people that I have professionally admired. However, one lady in particular springs to mind. Margaret Cooke, joint director of Integral Engineering Design, was my employer during a six month internship. Her enthusiasm for engineering and 'get up and go' attitude were inspiring. Mostly I admired her ability to juggle conflicting aspects of her life, in the past this was playing sport to a high level, now it's raising a family.

Being inspired by people plays an important part in career development and so, to reiterate, I look forward to working with the UKRC and RAEng to help inspire the next generation.

Margaret Cooke:

Hi Angela

Thanks for your lovely comments - It's not often that you get thanked for trying to fit far too much into your life! I was similarly inspired by the senior engineer I first worked with - the importance of role models early in a career should not be under-estimated.

Engineering is an extraordinarily varied profession and the dull man in a brown suit and tie is definitely a thing of the past. Getting past that stereotype is critical to getting more women into the profession. I frequently get told "I do not look like an engineer" which, while amusing, is also marginally depressing!

The issue is as, as the UKRC website succinctly puts it "successful female engineers are so few in number that they are almost invisible". I'm sure this is because we are all doing engineering, combined with raising families and trying to have a life. Leaving little time for self promotion or even mentoring.

Best of luck, Ruth, with the Ingenious Women project. It would be great to see a few more high profile female engineers. If there is anything I can do to help let me know.

Ruth Wilson:

Thanks for your encouraging words, Angela.

Angela Crowther:

It's six months down the line and I thought I would just check in and point any visitors to my personal blog: http://pleasetrespass.wordpress.com

Here I blog about my role as an engineer as well as other interesting bits and pieces that are informing my thinking. The blog was set up as part of my participation in the UKRC Ingenious Women programme, which I am finding to be the most incredible opportunity to better my communication skills and meet some amazing people - mentors, fellow engineers and students alike.