So, when did you know you were going to be an engineer? Was it your obsession with Legos? Was it because you wanted to know how everything worked? Was it because you were a whiz at Math and Science? Was it because you kept deconstructing and reconstructing things? Was it that chemistry set you got for Christmas—or that Science fair you won?
The catalyst for me was at about 9 years old when my father made a very simple circuit with a switch, lamp and battery, all mounted on an ornate piece of wood. I was fascinated by the fact that these few components, connected together in a certain way, would make something that would do something that I could see! That led to me reading everything I could, making crystal radio receivers, and eventually becoming a professional engineer. I wouldn't have had it any other way...
I couldn't put an age on it, only that I always liked examining mechanisms, seeing how things work, and fixing things. Certainly engineering chose me and there was never any option. I can't imagine how it must be to grow up without a magnetic pull towards a career.
My father was an accountant, my mother a nurse and neither knew the difference between a screw and a nail so it certainly wasn't family background! I was always curious about how things worked and I loved my Meccano set so I guess I was born with engineering in the blood. When I was about 9 I wrote to the GPO and told them I was interested in telephones: amazingly they invited me to the international exchange at Faraday House in London and I was immediately hooked by the visit - just fascinated that you could plug in on a switchboard in London (it was all manual then) and talk to someone on the other side of the world. Result: engineering degree and career in BT!
