Salli

Electrical Engineer

 International Women’s Day

I am an electrical engineer at AWE specialising in the electrical supplies to pulsed power equipment. We take a small amount of electricity, about as much as it takes to boil a kettle and turn it into millions of volts which we release in nano seconds. We carry out important research.

Tell me about your career progression before and at AWE?
I have reinvented myself several times. I grew up wanting to be an artist living in an isolated home in the Outer Hebrides and still dream of that. My parents though, encouraged a ‘proper job’. I became a Fingerprint Officer for the Metropolitan Police. Good times.
After that, via a couple of mistakes with which I will not bore, I did become an artist. My parents freaked but I did well. I wrote books at the height of the DIY craze and did a couple of series of a TV show. If you’ve ever seen the Egyptian staircase at Harrods, some of that work is mine.
I wanted to sculpt, so I qualified in welding. Then to make sculptures into lamps. I was incorrectly told that I needed to be a qualified electrician so I signed up for evening college. I found my vocation quite by accident.Which leads me, over 20 years as a busy self-employed electrician, to AWE. I met my mentor when I was invited to consult on an IET publication. He has supported me throughout. I contracted some of my time and in 2015 was sent to AWE to inspect some circuits on pulsed power equipment. I’m still here. I’m staff since 2017 and recently promoted.

What challenges have you faced in your career and how did you overcome them?
Because of the nature of our work, working at AWE is challenging regardless of gender. I don’t give much thought to gender and think it is largely irrelevant here. I’m proud to be a part. I have sometimes struggled with old school attitudes, some shockingly blatant. Thankfully, it has been refreshingly rare.
There is always the challenge of not knowing enough and I wish I knew more. You don’t know what you don’t know – as the saying goes. I have to remind myself that some of my knowledge runs at a depth greater than my peers’ but is different from theirs. That’s what makes a team. Ironically, the instinct of 20 years on the tools has become my tool.

Why do you enjoy your role and working at AWE?
AWE trusts me to make my contribution toward securing the nation’s nuclear deterrent. I’m proud of my role. My point of view and my innovation are heard.
I work with a dedicated and caring team who are like family. I stand on the shoulders of giants finer to me than Newton’s. I get to participate in extraordinary, essential research and I work alongside real rocket scientists.
What’s not to love?