If I could tell my younger self anything, it would be that engineering is a fantastic career for anyone
Kate Tomlinson, Lecturer in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, tells us how she gets to use her mathematical skills in a diverse role.
My journey into engineering has not been traditional at all. I think I'd grown up thinking that engineering was a really male dominated world but I was totally wrong. At school I did A-levels in maths and physics, but I didn't actually realise what maths and physics could lead to.
I actually stumbled into the world of beauty therapy, but I always felt that something was missing and that I wanted to come back to university to do a degree, and pick up the maths that I always loved previously.
Whilst I was at university I was working as a student ambassador and I got to go and visit all the different areas of the university and that's where I found the engineering labs. And that's when I realised that's exactly where I should be in life, that I wanted to be applying all those mathematical skills but doing something could actually make a difference in the world.
My research area is in tribology which is the science and engineering of surfaces of relative motion, so it covers so many things but one of the main aspects that links them altogether is looking towards sustainability.
I absolutely love interacting with the students and one of my absolute highlights is working with the faculty advisor for Formula Student.
If I could tell my younger self anything, it would be that engineering is a fantastic career for anyone and that it doesn't matter that life doesn't always go in the direction you expect it to.

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