A leading systems safety engineer and one of the Telegraph's Top 50 Women Engineers 2018 has returned to her alma mater to inspire the next generation of students.
Dr Emma Taylor visited the School of Engineering in her role as Chair-Elect of the Safety and Reliability Society (SaRS) to talk to students on the MSc Safety and Reliability Engineering for Oil and Gas programme.
A graduate of the MSc Safety Engineering programme, Emma is also an advocate for the WISE Campaign which aims to encourage more women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. She is a finalist in this year’s WISE Women in Industry awards.
She is also a member of the Women’s Engineering Society, and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).
As a Chartered Engineer with over 25 years across rail, oil and gas and space sectors, Emma came to Aberdeen to refresh her career, winning a prestigious EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Council) scholarship to study the MSc programme.
Her talk to students, which took place on Tuesday (October 2), covered her role as a safety engineer and as a Fellow of SaRS, the professional institution for safety, reliability and risk management practitioners. It also gave her the opportunity to reflect on her experiences of studying in Aberdeen, which she said gave her the transferable skills and confidence to be able to change sectors with relative ease.
Emma said: “It was great to return to Aberdeen and speak to the next generation of safety engineering students about the options that are open to anyone interested in a career in the industry.
“There are a diverse range of routes into the profession, but whatever your learning background joining one or more professional societies such as SaRS and the IMechE adds real value to the learning experience.
“Finally, my message to students was to enjoy it and have fun - it’s a career where you are constantly changing and adapting to new technologies and developments.”