© ©Thales
Bronwyn
TYSON
Manufacturing Apprentice
On a day to day basis I build and test various different pieces of sonar and radar equipment, and working with some of the engineering teams that support the build and the products when they are offsite. I am currently completing a BTEC Level 3 in Engineering, and will continue to HNC in Electrical/ Electronic Engineering on completion.
During the last year I’ve been STEM ambassador trained, and have then taken part in various careers fairs and events across the country, talking to students of varying ages from 14 to 17 years old, about what engineering is and what it’s like to be an engineering apprentice.
I also help out at Imagineering clubs, teaching 10-11 year olds about electronics, how circuitry works, and how to solder! The Imagineering club that I support is another really fantastic highlight for me, to see children so young so interested in engineering and specifically now, electronics. To know that these children have come to this club with little to no understanding of how some electronics works, and no idea how to solder, and after just a couple of short sessions, they are producing really good work, and really taking in all that we talk about with how components work, gives much a really great feeling of pride. I’ve seen how students can go from being quite un-interested to completely engaged in a matter of minutes, and over the time that I’ve been supporting this I’ve seen them learning so much.
Prior to being STEM ambassador trained, I attended the WISE (Women In Science and Engineering) conference in November last year, where was panel speaker sharing my experiences of being a women in the Defense and Nuclear sector, and what we are doing to try and break down the barriers that face women within engineering as a whole. Talking on the panel at the conference was a big highlight for me in terms of personal achievement, and attending the conference was a really big driving force for me to become as pro-active as I can within not just my local site, but in the schools and surrounding areas.
I like to make an impact! At the careers events, where students come to talk to you and quite a lot of them don’t think that there is anything out there to suit them, but after talking to them about engineering and just how broad it is, and for companies like Thales, just how much support there is out there for young people wanting to get into it, especially young women, you can tell that you’ve made an impact on them and helped them to explore options they had no idea even existed to them.
I have a number of activities in the near future too, including careers talks at some of the local schools that I used to attend, a Next Generation Somerset event, and an event for National Women in Engineering day, to promote more women into the engineering sector.
Over the lomger term I want to try to develop opportunities to go into schools and talk with students on a more personal basis and help them to discover what options are available to them within engineering, as I have found through talking to people and personal experience, that engineering as seen as very much just a hands on mechanical subject, when in fact there are a huge range of different areas of it that you can go into, and getting into schools for talks and things like the careers cafe I attended, will help to break down that perception, and encourage all young people, not just women, into looking at engineering as a possible route for them, in whatever area interests them.
STEM has been a part of my life since I was very young, even though I didn’t know it then. For me, doing these STEM activities are massively important in showing children of all ages just what’s out there, and that it doesn’t matter who you are, STEM subjects are an option. It is important to me to show everyone that there are lots of fantastic STEM role models all over the world, not just in the UK, who are active in their communities, who have most likely been in the same position at some point in their careers, and want to share their experiences and advice to everyone.
During the last year I’ve been STEM ambassador trained, and have then taken part in various careers fairs and events across the country, talking to students of varying ages from 14 to 17 years old, about what engineering is and what it’s like to be an engineering apprentice.
I also help out at Imagineering clubs, teaching 10-11 year olds about electronics, how circuitry works, and how to solder! The Imagineering club that I support is another really fantastic highlight for me, to see children so young so interested in engineering and specifically now, electronics. To know that these children have come to this club with little to no understanding of how some electronics works, and no idea how to solder, and after just a couple of short sessions, they are producing really good work, and really taking in all that we talk about with how components work, gives much a really great feeling of pride. I’ve seen how students can go from being quite un-interested to completely engaged in a matter of minutes, and over the time that I’ve been supporting this I’ve seen them learning so much.
Prior to being STEM ambassador trained, I attended the WISE (Women In Science and Engineering) conference in November last year, where was panel speaker sharing my experiences of being a women in the Defense and Nuclear sector, and what we are doing to try and break down the barriers that face women within engineering as a whole. Talking on the panel at the conference was a big highlight for me in terms of personal achievement, and attending the conference was a really big driving force for me to become as pro-active as I can within not just my local site, but in the schools and surrounding areas.
I like to make an impact! At the careers events, where students come to talk to you and quite a lot of them don’t think that there is anything out there to suit them, but after talking to them about engineering and just how broad it is, and for companies like Thales, just how much support there is out there for young people wanting to get into it, especially young women, you can tell that you’ve made an impact on them and helped them to explore options they had no idea even existed to them.
I have a number of activities in the near future too, including careers talks at some of the local schools that I used to attend, a Next Generation Somerset event, and an event for National Women in Engineering day, to promote more women into the engineering sector.
Over the lomger term I want to try to develop opportunities to go into schools and talk with students on a more personal basis and help them to discover what options are available to them within engineering, as I have found through talking to people and personal experience, that engineering as seen as very much just a hands on mechanical subject, when in fact there are a huge range of different areas of it that you can go into, and getting into schools for talks and things like the careers cafe I attended, will help to break down that perception, and encourage all young people, not just women, into looking at engineering as a possible route for them, in whatever area interests them.
STEM has been a part of my life since I was very young, even though I didn’t know it then. For me, doing these STEM activities are massively important in showing children of all ages just what’s out there, and that it doesn’t matter who you are, STEM subjects are an option. It is important to me to show everyone that there are lots of fantastic STEM role models all over the world, not just in the UK, who are active in their communities, who have most likely been in the same position at some point in their careers, and want to share their experiences and advice to everyone.