Riana Hattrell

"I’ve always been interested in engineering due to my dad being an engineer and always overhearing what was happening in his various projects, but I never knew what type of engineering I wanted to go into. Going through school, I was always interested in geography and wanting to help people have a better way of living. I then read up on different types of engineering and found that civil engineering was a perfect fit for my interests, combining geography with engineering. Choosing this degree meant that I was able to change how people live and interact with an environment.

Loughborough is voted one of the top courses for civil engineering. They have great lecturers and the student satisfaction rate is extremely high. However, I didn’t just choose the university because of the great course, I also looked at what the social life and the sporting opportunities were like. Both were perfect for me. When I visited the university on an application offer day, I could instantly tell that this was the university for me.

I enjoy the practical aspects of the course. There are lots of labs that provide hands on activities, such as concrete making and structural model forming, as well as lots of tutorials where we are able to try answering questions with one-to-one help. The academic staff within the department are very approachable and there will always be someone who is able to assist you. Currently, in my second year, my favourite topics are structural analysis and mechanics and geotechnics.

Being at Loughborough during the Centenary of Women in Engineering makes me feel honoured to be one of those women engineers who have chosen to go down the STEM pathway. I was only aware of Claudia Parsons's name before Loughborough, but this anniversary will make more people aware of what she stood for, which will inspire other women to go into engineering.

Hopefully with more encouragement from this event, more women will choose engineering as a career and also go on to choose to study their degree at Loughborough. I think more women should get involved in the engineering industry, because even today it is still thought to be male dominated. Overtime, we have seen views changing and I think that it would be a great idea to have more women in the industry.

It is very important that STEM subjects are encouraged amongst females. I do not think that women should step away from subjects like STEM. Instead, they should see it as a challenge. I took a leap into STEM subjects. Looking back, I can’t see myself changing it one bit. My advice to females would be to not be put off by engineering subjects, just do it for yourself.

In my future career, I want to work up the construction hierarchy ladder so that I could be in charge of a large construction site. This progression through the industry will enable me to complete the experience required to change my status to a chartered engineer, thus becoming a highly recognised professional within the industry."