What a great host of activities and experiences for Mental Health Awareness Week recently. Did you end up seeing some nice visuals of flowers? Did you end up enjoying mindfulness colouring involving some flowers? This week’s STEM challenge involves changing the colour of flowers for real!! Why not have a go and send me the pictures of your results!

Female Engineer Story: Annmarie – Design Engineer at Dyson

WHAT FIRST MADE YOU THINK “I WANT TO GET INTO ENGINEERING”?
As a young girl, it never occurred to me that I would grow up to be an engineer. My real passion was art and design, and I thought I might go into the jewellery or fashion industry. But when I started researching degrees, I came across Product Design – and knew straight away that was the path for me. The thought of creating objects that could make people’s lives a little bit better was exciting!

TELL US ABOUT LIFE BEFORE DYSON.
I studied Product Design and Innovation at Strathclyde University, and spent a year at Mars Chocolate before joining Dyson as a design engineer. I work in the New Product Innovation (NPI) team, where I conceptualise and create new ideas.

WHAT DO YOU DO, DAY TO DAY?
On a day to day basis, I’m typically sketching out new product ideas and concepts, or solutions to existing problems. I’m constantly thinking about how things work, and how they could be better. There’s no right or wrong way to approach a problem, and that’s really liberating. The most exciting part of working in NPI is turning 2D sketches into reality by creating visual – and working – prototypes. Using these prototypes to communicate how an idea might work or feel to use is satisfying – especially when I get to review the concepts with James Dyson.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO ASPIRING ENGINEERS?
There can be a perception that engineering is all about Maths and Physics – that it’s a cold, unfriendly, calculation-centered career. It’s enough to put anyone off! But really, engineering is a wonderfully holistic blend of the technical and the creative. It’s all about putting theory into practice; a perfect job for anyone who likes making things.