Kaye Pollard

"Team work and communication are really important when working on large engineering projects, so Communicator is definitely needed here. When there are 30 people working on a major project at the same time, I have to know how my design work impacts and interacts with other engineers’ designs, so that when it gets constructed, the project comes together as a whole. Being able to understand others and get on with people, using my Coach personality, are really important. "

"I work as a Civil Engineer at an engineering design company called Mott MacDonald. I work in their water sector and help design the infrastructure that gets water from the environment (in rivers, lakes and groundwater) into people's taps and safe to drink. This includes designing water pipelines, water treatment works and reservoirs. I also help design sewage networks and sewage treatment works. We need clean water and toilets because they prevent the spread of disease and stop us getting sick. I enjoy the variety of projects and there is lots of opportunity for travel as water engineering is needed all over the world. I also enjoy how much teamwork there is involved and how many different people I get to work with, even on a seemingly small project. I'm also more of a nerd than I would normally admit and really enjoy the problem solving parts of engineering design and the maths and physics problems that come along with it. I also love that fact that I feel all the projects I work on are essential to people's everyday needs and provide a real benefit to the people we are designing and building them for. I'm one of the most junior people in my team and there's lots of opportunity to work on bigger projects as I get more experienced. I could be a Project Manager coordinating the whole team or a technical specialist who knows lots about one part of the design."

"I've been really lucky to have so many inspiring female Engineers in my life, all of my tutors at university were women (which was incredibly lucky given there was only around 10% female academics in the Civil Engineering department at University). They are all hugely successful in highly male dominated world of engineering academia, starting out at a time when it was much harder than it is today and are doing important research. I also think Roma Agrawal is fantastic and is massively raising the media awareness around female Engineers in construction which is wonderful to see!"

"I enjoy dancing, singing at my local community choir, learning Spanish and cooking food for my friends. I also run (although wouldn't say I always enjoy it, but apparently it's good for me!). I also love to travel and explore the world; I recently spent 9 months travelling solo around India and Nepal which was a great experience and I'll probably start getting itchy feet again soon!"

"I'm a Civil Engineering designer, so typically spend most of my days in the office, although sometimes go out on site to see the things I've designed being built. I do a mix of design calculations, creating construction drawings on the computer, writing reports and meeting with clients and other Engineers. At the moment I'm working on a huge concrete service reservoir being built in the Lake District and have been designing the ventilation, drainage and soil retaining walls for the project. "

"Secondary education (GCSE/O-Levels) Post secondary education (College, A-levels, NVQ3 or equivalent) A-Levels: Maths (A*) Physics (A*) Geography (A) AS-Levels: Further Maths (A) Undergraduate degree (BSc, BA, etc.) Post-graduate degree (MSc, MA, etc.) MEng Civil Engineering, University of Bristol (First Class) "