Brigid Smith

"My results from the personality quiz are Explorer, Manager and Quality Controller. I feel that these are good match.Explorer mentions liking problem solving and puzzles - this is one of the keys to an engineering role and if it's something you like and are good at then I recommend you consider an engineering career. Other parts of the explorer type which are essential for my job are listening to ideas and being practical.Manager mentions being motivated, team orientated and a good organiser. All of these are important especially for a role like mine in which I coordinate people and ensure things happen.Quality controller mentions being good with detail, proactive, and fair, ethical and honest. These are good traits for an Electronic Engineer. The other essential point here is that I challenge the way things have been done and try to find a better way."

"At Intel I work designing graphics (GPU) cores which will form part of silicon chips. These might end up in computer systems anywhere in the world.When I started work used to write code which described the function of the core (hardware description language). Now I am responsible for the delivery of the project and for coordinating the activities of the team.I enjoy the challenge of achieving something new which no one has done before, for example a product which is faster or smaller or has better features than anyone else's. I love seeing something I've worked on end up in a product which my friends might be using."

"I was good at maths and physics at school, and when I was younger had enjoyed playing with an electronics kit and writing simple programs, encouraged by my Dad.Careers advisors at school pushed me towards medicine or law, so I went to university to study medicine - and really didn't enjoy it! It was all learning by heart and nothing creative. So I had to rethink, and think about what I was good at and what I enjoyed. I ended up changing course to Electronic Engineering and it was a great decision.I worked for several different companies during summer holidays at university, including Ford and Texas Instruments. When I graduated, I worked at Nortel Networks for five years, at Astrium for two years, then I was at Imagination Technologies for a long time. Recently I joined Intel which is a huge company with a lot of opportunities."

"In my spare time, I enjoy hiking and scuba diving. My best trips have been to o Iceland and New Zealand where I got to do both."

"There is no such thing as a typical day! There are always new challenges which is what makes the job so great. Usually I will have several meetings a day to discuss things like project progress or technical challenges. It will often be my job to ensure that decisions are taken in these meetings and then acted on. I also do things like project planning, deciding on priorities and looking at headcount and budgets."

"My A Levels were Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and General Studies.I have a masters degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Edinburgh."