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What got you interested in engineering?
It started when I was five years old and I stole my brother’s Lego set. My room was covered in Lego until I was about 13 and I’ve never looked back.
Why did you want to work for Babcock?
When I finished university I came to work at Babcock for six months as a contractor to save some money to go travelling. I had in mind that I wanted to do teaching because I was so disillusioned by the engineering work that I had been doing on summer placements while at university.
The sorts of work that I saw people doing during the final year of my degree were designing very small items, like a bolt or a hinge. I went to one company where I chatted to a guy who had been designing the same bolt for six months! If that was me I would have been bored out of my brain, so I started considering other careers.
But when I came to Babcock I found that not all engineering is like that. I was working on things that had a bit more significance, as most of the designs that we do are bespoke. Now I absolutely love my job. I wouldn’t look back.
What projects were you involved with on the graduate scheme?
Most of my placements were spent doing submarine design. We design the weapons handling and launch systems here at the Bristol site. Those placements taught me about the overall design process, drafting, CAD modelling, and how to do calculations.
My most valuable placements were in manufacturing. I got to have a go on some of the machines and plan operations. Now when I design a part I’m always thinking about how it will be made. That has made me a better designer.
What work do you do now?
I’m lead engineer for the aerial delivery team. It’s a very small team, but it is giving me experience in managing and it’s the first introduction to being a lead engineer. The aerial delivery system is used by the Ministry of Defence. It’s a frame that protects boats that are dropped out of a military aircraft. When it hits the water the frame protects the boat so it is still intact ready for the military to use.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
My work is interesting and varied. My job changes from day to day. Some of the work that I am doing now is in post-design services. We have already delivered the initial product and the MoD now want to enhance the system so that it can carry bigger boats or they can use it for bigger payloads. I don’t ever get bored – it’s great.
What trends are you seeing at Babcock?
Previously we would have different teams working on different projects. One team would work on a British submarine and another team on a Spanish submarine. Every sub is slightly different, but there are some elements that we can use in common so we are seeing a shift in product design. Now we have got one team of engineers who design all of the different submarines.
So you get someone who is a specialist at, let’s say, the door at the end of the torpedo tube, and is designing that for several different submarines. They have experience from the previous submarine to be able to apply it to the new one, so it’s more efficient.
Popham’s biography
Jennie Popham, 28, is based at Babcock’s Bristol site. She studied general engineering at the University of Cambridge, specialising in aeronautical engineering, before joining Babcock’s graduate scheme. She is now lead engineer for the aerial delivery team.