As Weston College celebrated Women in Engineering day last week (23 June), Liz Griffiths, the College’s Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, looks back on her decision to enter into the profession.

She said: “When I left school I was unsure about the career path that I wanted to pursue.

“I knew that my favourite subjects were maths and physics, so I wanted to find an occupation that related to those subjects.

“I was lucky enough to attend a seminar on women in engineering and was immediately interested in the exciting and varied career options that are available in the engineering industry, so I started to investigate the different kinds of apprenticeships that were available.”

Liz was accepted onto a four-year apprenticeship with Westland Helicopters, and was employed by the company after completing her study.

At Westland, she worked on Lynx and Puma aircraft before moving to Westland Industrial Products as a manufacturing planning engineer.

Prior to joining the College in 2016, she worked with GKN Aerospace on the Airbus A350.

Liz added: “The most important piece of advice I would give to girls that are considering getting into engineering is that it’s a very diverse and well-paid career and there is bound to be a pathway that interests you.

“If you’re unsure, it’s worth going to college open days to see what different types of engineering courses and apprenticeships are available.”

Somerset is home to over 4,600 regional, national and international engineering businesses, including major manufacturing and aerospace companies.

Over the next five years there will be 1.86 million jobs available to people with engineering qualifications, and people who graduate from university with engineering and technology degrees typically earn 20% more per year than graduates in other fields.

You can find out more about Weston College’s engineering provision here: www.weston.ac.uk/subject/engineering