University of the West of Scotland (UWS) Aircraft Engineering graduate, Nathalie Samson, is thankful to UWS for helping her reach the heights and achieve her dream of becoming an engineer.
As recently as 2017, Nathalie was working in Mexico as a Line Logistics Agent on the shop floor of global aerospace company Bombardier Aerospace, right underneath part of a business jet fuselage, and dreaming of becoming an engineer.
“Being so close to the structure made me realise just how fascinated I am by airplanes and how much I would love to work on these incredible pieces of engineering as an engineer. But I had just graduated with a business degree so that idea seemed far out of reach,” commented Nathalie.
Following her studies at The International School of Management in Germany, Nathalie worked for various companies in Germany before taking up a role with KOSTAL Group, moving to their facility in Mexico and on to Bombardier Aerospace.
Nathalie added: “Two years later, and after permanently moving to Scotland, I still could not shake off that idea, so I decided to take the plunge and start all over again by enrolling back at university.
“I chose UWS for two reasons. Firstly, I liked the structure and modules of the course and the fact that UWS is a partner of the university I studied at in Germany gave me confidence that UWS is a good place to study.
“Secondly, right from the initial enquiry, I received a lot of support from the programme coordinator, Tony Leslie, and his colleagues.
“While we agreed that working full-time and studying an engineering degree at the same time would come with a number of challenges, they all believed in me and gave me the chance to prove myself. However, the ambition to finish as quickly as possible drove me into full-time studies.”
Excelling on the BEng (Hons) Aircraft Engineering degree at UWS, Nathalie collected the Watt Medal and Court Medal in her second year and again in her third year.
In July 2023, after four years of juggling work and studies, Nathalie graduated with a first class honours degree in Aircraft Engineering, and was also recognised by the Royal Aeronautical Society in Prestwick.
“While this degree repeatedly pushed me to my limits, I can honestly say that I loved every minute of it and that it was definitely the right decision to re-direct my career and start again.”
Nathalie is now a Senior Systems Engineer at BAE Systems.
International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) will celebrate its 11th year in 2024 and once again be promoting the amazing work that women engineers across the globe are doing.
This year’s theme is #Enhancedbyengineering.
INWED gives women engineers around the world a profile when they are still hugely under-represented, with 2021 figures indicating that in the UK only 16.5% of engineers are women.
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