We need an exponential number of engineers to join the workforce in the future, so it was pleasing to see that almost every seat was taken for this encounter. Florence Collier delivered an engaging presentation about her pathway into engineering and brought some props for students to look at too.

Florence explained that she followed a ‘conventional’ route into the sector, completing A-Levels and then a degree before gaining employment with Arup, a large multinational engineering firm. This allowed her to develop the skills and knowledge she needed to launch her own business, Humblebee (taken from the old name for a bumble bee). In fact, although languages may not be at the forefront of a ‘conventional’ engineers curriculum, this is an area where she is able to edge out the competition, as a fluent French and Italian speaker. It is also a skill which she advocates future engineers to develop, as “Foreign languages give you an advantage when working for international firms”. However, she also explained that the conventional route is not necessarily the best route any longer, with a multitude of high quality apprenticeships available, which offer hands on skills and financial incentives.

Students learned about the design process, with explanations of how engineers work with architects to analyse technical data for a build. For example, they would compute how much energy a building is likely to consume, depending on its function, be this residential, business or industrial. In fact this is precisely the area that Humblebee is influencing. Florence is a Passivhaus accredited designer, which means that she helps design and influence the energy economy of a building, using tools such as thermal imaging cameras which she brough as a prop for students to hold, as well as lots of spreadsheets and technical data. The efficiency of a building can make a huge overall impact to our countries emissions, with 40% of our green house gas emissions coming from buildings. An astonishing figure. With the challenge of net zero emissions by 2050, we will need many more caring and skilled engineers like Florence to help reduce the impact of our national emissions.

We would like to thank Florence for giving up her time to inspire our students.