Three women share their experiences of working within engineering and their motivations of pursuing their career path.
Ann-Marie Holmes
General Manager, Fab Sort Manufacturing, Intel Corporation
Who or what was your greatest influence?
My mother has been a very key influence and inspiration in my life. Hands down she has taught me the most invaluable lessons, such as, don’t ask somebody to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself, be loyal and value loyalty. These are things which I consider extremely important lessons for anybody, at any level, at any age.
What can be done to encourage more people, and in particular young girls, to explore careers in engineering?
In many cases girls can feel that engineering is not a career they can have for life. That it is not a career that they can take on whilst also having the flexibility to do all the other things they might love and aspire to.
I think this is partly because young girls don’t see many examples of women engineers in the world around them and if they can’t see it, they may often perceive that they can’t be it. We need to do more to ensure that engineers are visible as role models for these young girls and that a career as an engineer is a relatable role for everyone. We need to challenge the stereotype that exists around engineering.
Being an engineer at Intel allowed me to be able to adapt my career to different phases of my life and I want to be able to showcase that to the next generation.
Amy Nordon
Process Engineer, Fab 24, Intel Ireland
Why did you decide to become an engineer?
I did not make a conscious decision to become an engineer, I always enjoyed STEM subjects at school, so I decided to study science at college. I then continued on to complete a PhD in chemistry thinking that I would choose a career in research or academia. However, during those four years working towards my PhD I learned so much about problem solving and enjoyed collaborating with others that I began to think about a career in industry. I applied for a process engineering role in Intel and have been working there ever since.
What skills do you need to become a good engineer?
In my experience, some of the best engineers I have worked with have a number of things in common – they are open minded when faced with a problem, they are good listeners and communicators, and they are good critical thinkers.
Keissy Guerra Perez
Deep Learning Data Engineer, Intel Movidius
What for you are the most interesting aspects of engineering?
The broad range of types and disciplines in engineering. Intel has many examples of people that studied one engineering discipline and ended up working in another. For example, some of my colleagues working as electronic engineers studied industrial engineering.
How has your career differed from what you expected, particularly initially?
My initial expectations of working in the semiconductor industry was to be working on different parts of the product process and releasing products quickly. However, the reality is not like that. The scale involved means that you work in a specialised area, and the load of work on a single area is huge. Achieving high quality work requires much time, concentration and specialisation.
At Intel, we value the unique perspectives of every individual. We are committed more than ever to ensuring that we have an inclusive culture all around the world. That means creating a sense of belonging and instilling a culture where employees can bring their full experiences and authentic selves to work while enjoying rewarding careers.
To hear more from our employees at Intel, check out www.intel.ie/careers