As a Model Shop Technician in the Development Model Shop (DMS) Team, Alena has been working on populating PCBs for the Sparrow Hawk controller. In the last year, Alena got involved in many projects like Wild Cats, Grey Eagle and KFX VUHF antennas. She has also been involved in the completion of many sub-assemblies and reworking PCBs.
At around age 25, Alena first recognised her interest in engineering. However, she did not instantly pursue this interest due to family commitments. In her mid-thirties, Alena went to college, and one year later, joined Chelton as an Engineering Apprentice.
Alena has always liked being hands on, and would often get involved in assisting her older brother, a car mechanic, repairing and fixing cars. Figuring out how things work always enticed Alena.
To succeed in a role like Alena’s, she believes having willingness, imagination, and effective communication skills are all essential. Alena says that in her role, they often only get one chance to get things right, so a lot of thought, planning, research and documenting is also very necessary before starting a project.
Alena’s favourite thing about her job is the fact that they get the unique opportunity to see products develop from a concept to the end result. She also adds that every day is different which makes her job exciting and engaging.
Some of the projects Alena is involved in have dedicated technicians, but within their team, they tend to be versatile, and pick up each other’s jobs if needed.
Alena says there is a definite balance between the analytical and creative mix in her job. She says her team analyse problems and come up with solutions, like special tooling, which is a better way of doing things than conforming to the required standard.
Currently, Alena is studying a HND (Higher National Diploma) in electrics/electronics at Bedford College. In school, she always enjoyed PE and physics. If Alena could go back in time and give herself some advice, she’d tell herself to concentrate on maths and physics, and just have a go.
As a Materials Engineer Graduate Trainee in the ASG team, Beth is working on a range of things for Global Positioning System (GPS) antennas. In the past, Beth has worked on stimulation and design.
Beth’s original career plan consisted of medicine, but when she realised the stress that came with it, she realised it wasn’t for her. After her GCSE’s, Beth decided to pursue a career in engineering.
Beth’s favourite subjects in school were Mathematics, Chemistry and History. Her GCSE Science teacher (Dr Perry) was the one who initially introduced, and created an interest in engineering for Beth as her children were engineers. Dr Perry was a supportive, energetic and passionate teacher; which made it hard for Beth to ignore the advice she was giving. Beth is going back in to education this September to complete her Masters at university. However, if she could go back in time to her school years, she wishes she could tell her younger self to be more confident.
Two of the most important skills Beth believes are crucial to succeed in a role like hers, is confidence and communication. The best thing about Beth’s job is the variation that she’s faced with day-to-day. Every day provides different opportunities to work on so many different things. As Beth is still learning, she tends to be involved with the full lifecycle of a product/project so that she can be involved with as much as possible. She also gets a good balance between the creative and analytical mix in her role, which makes things more interesting for her.As a Materials Engineer Graduate Trainee in the ASG team, Beth is working on a range of things for Global Positioning System (GPS) antennas. In the past, Beth has worked on stimulation and design.
Beth’s original career plan consisted of medicine, but when she realised the stress that came with it, she realised it wasn’t for her. After her GCSE’s, Beth decided to pursue a career in engineering.
Beth’s favourite subjects in school were Mathematics, Chemistry and History. Her GCSE Science teacher (Dr Perry) was the one who initially introduced, and created an interest in engineering for Beth as her children were engineers. Dr Perry was a supportive, energetic and passionate teacher; which made it hard for Beth to ignore the advice she was giving. Beth is going back in to education this September to complete her Masters at university. However, if she could go back in time to her school years, she wishes she could tell her younger self to be more confident.
Two of the most important skills Beth believes are crucial to succeed in a role like hers, is confidence and communication. The best thing about Beth’s job is the variation that she’s faced with day-to-day. Every day provides different opportunities to work on so many different things. As Beth is still learning, she tends to be involved with the full lifecycle of a product/project so that she can be involved with as much as possible. She also gets a good balance between the creative and analytical mix in her role, which makes things more interesting for her.
As a Systems Verification Lead in the Systems Engineering team, Sonali is currently working on the NJEWCs project at Chelton.
Sonali knew she wanted a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) career early on in life, but it was only after she had completed her A-levels that she realised she wanted to be an engineer. It was not through family or a role model that enticed Sonali into the world of engineering., but through discussions with her friends.
Over the years, Sonali has come to the realisation that the time in your life when you have most time on your hands, is throughout your years of education. If Sonali could go back in time, she would choose to use her time more wisely as a student.
Throughout her years at school, Sonali was always enticed by physics and biology. Surprisingly, she wasn’t a big fan of maths, but she didn’t mind it. Her hobbies as a juvenile included sports and creative activities such as drawing and painting, which she enjoyed, yet she always knew she wanted a scientific profession.
Thinking logically, and simply having common sense are two skills Sonali believes are crucial to succeed in the world of engineering. This is because engineering problems are usually solved by a collaboration of skills involving multiple people. Therefore, logic and common sense come in handy in understanding the crux of the problem and identifying ways to solve it.
The product life cycle in an Aerospace company can be very long, especially for complex systems. In that aspect, Sonali has been lucky that over the course of last 12-14 years, she has worked in roles/projects where she was involved in the full lifecycle, in one way or another. Sonali says that companies like automotive or consumer goods are fast paced, giving one the opportunity to potentially get involved in multiple product lifecycles in their career.
Sonali’s favourite thing about her job is the fact that she will be learning new things every day, right up until she retires! For Sonali, the great thing about engineering is that no matter how experienced you are, you can always expand your knowledge and learn something new.
As a Model Shop Technician in the Development Model Shop (DMS) team, Toni has been working on the 19-5006 (F15) antenna for the past eight months. Previously, Toni was involved in the PCB work for the KFX V/UHF antennas.
Working in an office never appealed to Toni, she always knew she wanted a hands on job. At the age of 18, Toni left her job at the local supermarket, and applied for a mechanical maintenance apprenticeship at AWE. She loved her apprenticeship at AWE, it was where she discovered her love for engineering.
Toni’s whole family encouraged her to search for a job that she would enjoy- being happy in her profession is what mattered most to them. It was only after her apprenticeship with AWE, that she realised what can really be done in engineering. It’s taken Toni a little while, but she has finally found her passion in engineering, and is now studying electronics at Bedford College, while learning about programming in her spare time.
Toni works in the model shop, where they work on development models of their products. She believes some of their most important skills include: effective communication, ability to adapt to changes quickly, and the ability to derive solutions if problems arise. She adds that good hand skills in electromechanical assembly don’t go amiss.
Toni believes the best thing about her job is that not every day is the same. Even if the team are working on the same product for a while, it’s a projects nature to change and develop over time until it’s ready for production. She expresses how although it is a challenging environment to work in, seeing a product reach final completion is extremely rewarding.
Having involvement in the full lifecycle for Toni depends on the product/project. She has been on the F15 antenna since it came to Chelton, and will be handing it over to the Production team when it’s ready. Toni and her team have all had a hand to play for the KFX antenna suite because there are a lot of different aspects to it.
Toni says there is a good balance between the creativity and analytical mix in her role. She does have to work methodically, but there is definitely room for creativity when it comes to how tooling is designed to get a job done.
Toni’s favourite subjects at school were Science, History, Geography and Practical PE. Toni wishes she could encourage her younger self to pick subjects she really enjoyed, rather than worrying about where those subjects would lead her in life, because no really knows what they want to do at such a young age. Despite coasting through school, Toni has done well, but she wishes she had put a bit more effort into her studies regardless.
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