Zuzanna Wnekowska

"Zuzanna is a Higher Apprentice in Aerospace Engineering, working at the pioneering company Airbus.Zuzanna needs to be inventive, inquisitive and practical when trying to think of design solutions to engineering problems, so she matches well with the ‘Explorer’ type. Her job requires a lot of logical thinking and the ability to be persuasive and confident when justifying new design ideas so she also suits the ‘Innovator’ type. She also needs to be supportive and a good communicator when working in a team and when participating in volunteering groups in schools, so it is good that she is the ‘Coach’ type."

"Zuzanna is a Higher Apprentice in Aerospace Engineering at Airbus, an engineering company designing and manufacturing aircraft, space, and defence systems. Zuzanna is learning on the job and is supported by her employer to do her degree in Aerospace Engineering.Zuzanna rotates around placements in the business every 3-6 months, this gives her chance to find out about the different departments and roles, and to find a role that is a good fit for her. Right now, she is on a design team which is focusing on designing wings for planes. Zuzanna enjoys that fact that each day is different for her because she splits her week between the office and university, and the projects she is working on regularly change. Most days start with her chatting with her team mates and doing some design work, followed by going into review meetings with lots of interesting people and helping to make decisions about design and manufacturing. After that she goes back to do some more design work in the afternoon. Zuzanna really enjoys having lots of very smart people around to teach her things. The most exciting part of Zuzanna’s career has been seeing her name on a drawing. It means she will have designed a part that will actually be flying in a real aircraft very soon, and she is only 21!"

"Growing up, Zuzanna liked Maths and Science because there was always a right answer and she thought they could lead to an interesting career. She also had a really supportive Physics teacher who helped her to love the subject. Her parents always said she could achieve whatever she set her mind to which was a great thing to grow up with! Zuzanna took Triple Science at GCSE, and then Physics, Maths and Product Design at A-Level. She then decided to apply to do Product Design Engineering at university. However, at the same time, she found out that Airbus offered an Apprenticeship in Design Engineering and so she applied for that instead. It seemed like the better option because she could get hands-on experience in the field and earn as she learned. Zuzanna’s starting salary for her apprenticeship was about £14,500. Alongside her doing apprenticeship, Zuzanna got NVQs in Engineering Manufacturing and she is now studying for BEng in Aerospace Engineering, with all her fees paid, and earning a wage."

"In her spare time, Zuzanna likes to walk her puppy, Penny. She also likes to work out, she is a brown belt in karate and did boxing for a few years. Zuzanna also likes to cook.Zuzanna loves to travel as much as she can. So far in her two years at Airbus, she has been to Toulouse in France and had many business trips around the country, including the Lake District for a week-long outward-bound trip!Once Zuzanna has graduated, she will be able to apply for any job within the business, or even transfer to a non-engineering role, so there are many doors open to her. In the future, she would really like to be working on space projects."