Question: Why did you decide to be a Structural Engineer

Aisling Shannon answered on 9 Mar 2016:

Hi Vickay! I don’t think I woke up one morning and thought “I want to be a Structural Engineer” what happened was that my thesis for my degree in UL was using an analysis program that normally college students wouldn’t have access to, so that was how I got my first job as an Aircraft Structural Engineer, then some of the work that I did during that job was really relevant for Spacecraft (and unusual for Aircraft), so that made me a good candidate for my next job which was as a Spacecraft Structural Engineer. By then I was really enjoying the work I was doing and decided to stay focused in that area. None of the other people in my year in college are either Structural Engineers or working in the Space Industry, there are so many options and opportunities, you don’t need to decide at school what you want to be, you can wait until you are in college and see which subjects there really interest you.