Ask the Engineers: What inspired you to become an engineer?

Are you stuck in a career rut or planning your next move? Maybe you’re a student struggling to decide on an industry? We're putting your burning questions to our panel of seasoned engineers.

"Everything we use from day to day is the result of engineering. As a child, I enjoyed finding out how things worked, and engineering allows me to use that drive to solve problems and improve people’s lives."

Chris Taylor

"I went on a WISE course – a week-long visit to Bath University’s engineering department – back in the 1980s when I was 16. Knowing that I enjoyed maths and physics, and liked to know how things worked, made engineering a sensible choice. No regrets 30-plus years later after jobs in various electro-mechanical, chemical and automotive industries. Not forgetting quite a few winter breaks in Alpine ski resorts – that’s where working on contract as an engineer, in the summer months only, came in useful!"

Harriet Ashworth

"My grandfather pointing to the vast structures he had helped create. When I was little I thought of him as someone who had built the horizon. Lego and Meccano were highly influential. I think Minecraft is doing the same for the next generation."

Chris Greatrix

"I loved cars, motorbikes and engines as a child and wanted a career working within an industry where I could be involved in design or manufacture of them."

Andrew Gatenby

"I was impressed by a book about the life of James Brindley, who built the first canals and so revolutionised the world. It was given to me by my economics teacher. But, frankly, I have always had a fascination with how things work, and this is in-built – you cannot fake it!"

Stuart Kirby

"Initially a love of maths plus good career prospects, then a general wonderment in how and why engineering can be so much an essential part of everyday life as well as enabling headliners like moon landings, magnificent buildings and bridges, bullet trains and so on."

Geoff Buck

"My dad always taught us to be constructive, whether helping to put up shelves and other DIY work, or playing with us on large Meccano construction projects. After that, there really was no other career in mind (and he was involved in technical advertising). Being a family of railway enthusiasts also assisted an interest in the engineering of railways and locomotives."

Bob Rainbow

"I was always interested in science and in how things worked. I liked trying to fix things and make them work better. I was given a book called Men Who Shaped the Future for my 11th birthday, and went on to be good at science and maths. An engineering degree followed. It was knowledge-based problem solving that gave me most job satisfaction – that plus respect for the engineering and scientific colleagues, and the craftsmen, that I learned so much from."

Gib FitzGibbon

"I was inspired to become an aircraft stress engineer by being able to apply into industrial practice almost all of my college and university education and training – from the advanced mathematical/structural techniques learned to the materials, manufacturing, technology and project/business knowledge. It was satisfying to see the direct relevance of my engineering education to real-world applications."

Anonymous

"At school I just loved visualising 3D objects and turning them into 2D drawings (without the use of CAD of course). I didn’t realise this was part of engineering at the time but later when I began work as an apprentice fitter I started to understand. Then when I moved away from the shop floor and worked as a junior draughtsman I started to realise what it was all about. Figuring out how things would fit together and working out fits and tolerances was always interesting to me and was especially satisfying when it all came together at the end."

Steve Gallimore

"As a youngster I enjoyed the usual toys of the time, Lego, Meccano, and Airfix and Tamiya models. I was interested in aircraft and considered being a flight engineer. At the career evenings, speaking with the companies, this set my path into engineering, with the A-levels to take and the sandwich degree course. It was my first placement in Ford’s Halewood plant in 1985 in the body construction plant engineering team that set my career path, and has kept me working in the motor industry on facility planning and installation in the paint and body-in-white areas."

I Oldfield