Aliah Shaheen

"The personality test tells me that I am a Communicator, an Influencer and a Quality Controller. I wasn’t convinced at first, but thinking about it, when I think about what makes me who I am, I mostly get on with people. Especially in a work environment. I have always been an introvert, I still am! But when it comes to work, I make the effort to act as the mediator, ultimately things need to work and that involves a fair deal of good communication and some influencing. I also need to make sure that what gets done, gets done to a good quality – that’s just the scientist in me. "

"I am a Senior Lecturer; my work involves teaching students mostly about biomechanics (that’s just how the body moves) and research. I look at how humans and animals move and what their movements can tell us about their health. Both parts of my work are enjoyable. I particularly enjoy mentoring students and love to hear back from ones that graduate and get in touch years later to tell me how they are doing. I also love doing research, it is why I ended up doing this job. There is nothing quite like the kick you get when you find out that your work resulted in a new discovery and added to what humans now know about this topic. "

"I was stubborn and that’s how I got here. I did not accept that I couldn’t do engineering because the local universities did not offer the degree to girls. It took a lot of persuasion to get my family to support this, but even then, there was an expectation that I would fail and come back home in less than a year. I left for the UK aged 16 and joined an undergraduate programme in Biomedical Engineering. I did very well, coming at the top of my class, and went on to do a PhD in Bioengineering. I worked for a year as a postdoctoral researcher and then applied for a Lecturer position, and from then became a Senior Lecturer. "

"I have three beautiful kids and spend all/most of my time outside of work with them. I also do a lot of reading and spend a lot of time cooking for and socialising with friends. I came to the UK to pursue an education and never expected to stay here. I have now created a life for myself and my family here, and it has become my home. My life involves a lot of travelling to see my parents, siblings, in-laws, uncles, aunts, cousins and sometimes friends (I am still Middle Eastern!!). "

"It is difficult to describe a typical day for an academic. But generally, we have meetings with our students and with colleagues, review scientific reports, spend time in the lab and reply to many e-mails. During term time, we would also spend a lot time preparing teaching material and delivering teaching sessions (lectures, small-group tutorials, laboratory practicals). While in the summer, we spend a lot of time thinking of new research ideas and applying for research funding, writing up research papers and going to conferences. "

"A Levels – Mathematics, Physics, ChemistryBEng Biomedical Engineering, University of Birmingham PhD Bioengineering, Imperial College LondonGCTL – University of Surrey "