MEET THE PIONEERS EARNING AS THEY LEARN: GEORGIA HENDERSON

28 April 2017 -

Encouraged to follow up her interest in STEM from an early age, Georgia Henderson has already led several industrial projects as she strives to be a fully qualified engineer

Georgia Henderson has been working for four years for engineering consultants Atkins, where she undertook an apprenticeship learning “the fundamentals of engineering”.

The experience at Atkins gave Henderson exposure to each facet of the business, before picking her favourite part to study further.

“When I first started my apprenticeship I was put on a drawing board for 12 weeks,” she said. “Then I got to move round each discipline so mechanical, civil and electrical and then at the end of my second year I was allowed to choose which discipline I would like to specialise in, so I chose mechanical.”

Attending a secondary school that specialised in engineering put Henderson at an advantage, giving her awareness of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects at a very young age and showing her “what it would be like to be a woman in engineering”.

Having deciding that “the apprenticeship route would be the quickest way for me to get involved with the engineering and have a career as well”, Henderson takes particular pride in the leadership roles she has taken on at Atkins.

She led a laser scanning survey project at a nuclear decommissioning site to produce an accurate 3D model to allow the client to show their employees the actual inside of the nuclear building without entering it - reducing the risk of radiation exposure.

Henderson says such experiences makes her confident that her apprenticeship has given her a significant competitive advantage over her peers.

“The benefit of my apprenticeship, I feel, is by the time I'm 25 I'll have just come out of my degree,” she stated, “I'll have a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering along with nine years' experience of work.

“Compared to somebody [who is] 25 who got their degree a little bit sooner than me but only has 2-3 years' experience, I will have a lot more experience. I'll have built up over nine years in leadership, and taking on these management roles [early in my career at Atkins] will help me a lot with my future career.”

Her future is certainly bright in a thriving UK industry.

Find out more about the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship