To mark this year’s International Women In Engineering Day we caught up with Claire Bate, member of the Engineering Construction And Physics (ECAP) section. Here Claire outlines how she embarked on a career in engineering, her experiences and the significance of her various roles within the industry. Claire also discusses how the sector is developing, the people that have inspired her and what the sector is doing to better attract and support women.
What first sparked your interest in the field of engineering?
I loved STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects at school and both of my parents have strong science and engineering backgrounds. Mum worked in testing laboratories and Dad was an environmental health officer, mainly dealing with noise complaints. He was always bringing home audio measuring and recording equipment and I was fascinated by how it worked. I really enjoyed tinkering with all sorts of gadgets, especially taking them apart, although that sometimes got me into trouble!
How did you turn that interest into an engineering-related career?
After earning a degree in radio frequency and communications I began working in an Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) testing laboratory. Here I looked at how different signals from a wide variety of equipment interacted and interfered with other equipment, mainly in military, aerospace, automotive and telecoms applications. The lab I worked in was UKAS-accredited, which first got me interested in exploring how standards are interpreted and applied in different industry sectors. I joined UKAS some 15 years ago as an assessment manager and have since become UKAS’s Technical Focus Person for EMC testing, meaning I have to keep on top of industry developments and how these might affect EMC testing and the relevant accreditation assessments and training.
How would you describe your role today?
A typical assessment at a customer’s lab will start with meeting the engineers to discuss what work they’ve got on and what aspects we’re going to evaluate that day. The assessment itself scrutinises the whole testing process; from looking at the test method, its repeatability and how it references the relevant international standards, to witnessing testing and reviewing the relevant paperwork. We’ll also ask the engineers to explain what they’re doing, see how they approach applying the same tests to different equipment and talk about how they would deal with the complexities of where something is failing.
Which aspect of your job do you enjoy the most?
Although I don’t get to do it as often as I used to, I still enjoy going into customers’ labs, as you’re never quite sure what you’re going to see. One day it could be testing a familiar piece of IT infrastructure, the next you’re presented with something new or miniaturised that makes you think ‘wow, that’s incredible’.
What’s been amongst the most fulfilling projects you’ve worked on?
I started working in EMC labs in the early days of mobile phones and Bluetooth technology. Back then devices operated on different combinations of signals, bands and modulations depending on geographical regions, so required repeated testing against multiple different parameters. Nowadays people just expect to switch on a device or press a button and for it to work, without it adversely affecting anything else, no matter where they are in the world. People also demand more from their devices, with the seamless integration of colour HD touchscreens, multiple cameras and high quality wireless technologies being considered the norm for today’s smartphones. None of these advances in capability and convenience would have been possible without extensive and complex EMC testing, so it’s been fascinating and satisfying to see the valuable contribution it makes to both safety and functionality.
Was there anyone who either inspired or mentored you?
From starting as one of the only women on her chemistry course at university my Mum had a long, varied and distinguished career including working in the Royal Army Medical Corps, food industry and security inks sector. Her story has always inspired me to carry on and strive for excellence in traditionally male-dominated environments. On the engineering side, I was fortunate to have a lecturer in radio frequencies and electromagnetics who always made the subject interesting and relevant.
What industry developments are you keeping an eye on?
In addition to my work at UKAS I also sit on the EMC standards committee at the British Standards Institute, where we closely monitor technological developments and consider how they might impact the sector. It’s going to be very interesting to see how new and rapidly developing areas such as the Internet of Things and AI will interface with engineering as a whole and the bearing this could have on the development of standards and the EMC conformity assessment process.
Have you ever felt you’ve been treated differently because you’re female?
When Mum started her degree in chemistry people assumed she was in the wrong lab and was instead looking for biology, which was ‘two doors down’. The workplace environment slowly changed and things improved for women as she advanced through her career. Fortunately my experience was significantly better and more enlightened than hers. Despite initially finding it daunting working in a male-dominated sector, I have always felt accepted, respected and appreciated by colleagues throughout my career, particularly at UKAS.
How does the sector encourage more women to pursue a career in engineering?
Organisations including the Institute of Engineering and Technology and the Women’s Engineering Society do a lot of work to raise the profile of women in the engineering sector. Seeing women in a wide variety of influential roles will help girls realise that engineering has a lot to offer them, is not just for boys and is so much more than only working with ‘oil and spanners’. The potential career opportunities go far beyond one particular field or application, as everything that is designed and built involves the dedicated input of a variety of skilled engineers. You also don’t have to have a degree to become an engineer, as there are numerous excellent apprenticeships open to women that could provide the foundation for a long and rewarding career in engineering.
What’s one tip you have for someone thinking of a career in engineering?
Get as much information and practical experience of the fields you’re interested in as you can. Whether that’s arranging a week’s work experience through school, joining engineering societies, attending careers events or going to lectures from leading industry figures.