To fulfil the need for skilled engineering now and in the future, Crestchic’s team works hard to identify and engage the potential engineering stars of the future. In our final part of our look at the women in engineering at Crestchic, we talk to Isabella Xu, Electrical Design Engineer.
Originally from China, Isabella grew up in a society with much the same gender bias in engineering roles as the UK. Her parents longed for her to follow in their footsteps and become a nurse or an accountant, but Isabella’s innate interest in ‘how things work’ led her to go on to study science in high school and engineering at university – where just 3 of the class of 36 students were female – before travelling to the UK in 2012 to study for her masters degree.
In 2018, Isabella joined the team at Crestchic. As an Electrical Design Engineer, Isabella is involved in all stages of the lifecycle of a loadbank – analysing technical documentation and specifications, undertaking electrical calculations of cable, power and fuse sizing and producing electrical schematics, controller coding and build instructions through to making recommendations for product improvement and development.
Isabella explains, “The great thing about being an engineer is the opportunity to continually develop and learn. I’m surrounded by very experienced engineers and am able to expand my knowledge all of the time. My next goal is to get more involved with designing PCBs and coding controllers.”
Asked what she thinks can be done to tackle the skills gap in particular when it comes to encouraging young girls to consider STEM subjects, Isabella is clear. “It is all about opportunity. Many young girls are given toys that encourage them to nurture rather than explore – that’s important, but so is expanding their knowledge and interest. Take children to science parks and aeroplane or space science museums. Encouraging them to ask questions and get excited is key to creating the next generation of engineers.”