Colette (she/her)

Engineer

I moved to Manchester as a student in 2014, and loved it so much I never left. I started university on an engineering foundation year, then studied a masters in Materials Science & Engineering. I've always really enjoyed understanding how things work and how they're made and found my degree super interesting. I wrote my dissertation on using machine learning in materials analysis and won a prize for achieving the highest mark in my class! I found Roke, where I work now, because they specialise in interesting machine learning applications and other digital technologies. I've been working in software for a couple of years now, I've worked on things like AI research, full-stack development and my current role now involves a joint product owner / scrum master role on an innovation project. I'm loving seeing my team thrive and develop their skills, and shape a really exciting and valuable new product. Alongside my project work, I also chair the Women in Roke ERG, a responsibility I don't take lightly, working hard to progress initiatives to increase diversity and inclusion in Roke and the wider tech and engineering industries.

There are a huge variety of possible careers in tech and we need people with different skill sets and backgrounds to keep the UK world-leading. There are many different sectors you can work in, the skills you can are easily transferable and will set you up for a really varied and fulfilling career.