INWED 2020 – Ana Isabel Pirrone
Celebrating our female engineers
International Women in Engineering Day 2020 (INWED20) launches on the 23rd of June with the theme ‘Shape the World’. INWED, now in its seventh year, is a campaign that brings together engineers and their supporters from across the world, joining to raise awareness of the opportunities and achievements of women engineers.
At the AqualisBraemar group, which includes OWC, we wanted to take this opportunity to praise the excellent work our women engineers do across the globe and celebrate their efforts to shape our world into a better, safer, more innovative and exciting place to be.
Ana Pirrone
Ana Pirrone is a Geotechnical Engineer in our London office, and her duties include involvement in offshore wind projects as the geotechnical specialist and carrying out & actively managing the Leg Penetrations Analyses.
What advice do you have for women interested in engineering? What kinds of practical experience should they have? What technical skills should they pick up?
I went to an all-girls school back home, and after graduation, only 10% chose to study engineering. I remember one close friend that changed her career path from engineering because she was told that engineers had to wear steel toe-cap boots and be covered in mud all day, which tends to be a terrible misconception!
I think it can be quite intimidating being a woman in a male-led industry, such as engineering. That is why my advice would be to not let anyone or anything convince you that you are not good enough or that this is not a woman’s job. You can do anything you aspire to do, and you can shape your career path as you want it to be if you work hard for it.
If you always enjoyed maths at school and feel motivated in taking part in the positive change that is happening in the world, engineering is the right choice for you! In my experience, the main skill required is addressing problems sensibly, coming up with solutions that are logical, achievable, and clever.
What do you wake up looking forward to? What’s next for your career?
I wake up looking forward to learning from the new challenges each day brings. Offshore Wind is a growing, fast-paced industry, so each project is completely different and full of challenges to overcome. I am lucky enough to work in a multidisciplinary team consisting of the best professionals in the industry, learning from them from day one.
With my involvement in different projects, I am currently developing my technical skills while having the opportunity to develop my management skills, too. I would like to continue on this path, gaining experience and learning from the best, so somewhere down the line, I can assume the role of technical lead or, eventually, project manager.
What did you learn on the job that you couldn’t have learned in the classroom?
In University, they teach the theory, explain the basics and fundamentals so you can build your knowledge. Whilst on the job, you need to put this knowledge into practice and develop your own engineering judgment. No one is expecting you to remember everything from the books, but on the job, knowing where to get the information needed is a very valuable skill because each project is completely different from the one before. You will never stop learning.
How has AqualisBraemar/OWC helped you grow?
OWC has given me the opportunity to get involved in offshore wind projects from all around the world and has supported me and motivated me to shape my career path into what I wish to accomplish.
An example of this was in November 2019, when I got the opportunity to visit the Abu Dhabi and Dubai offices for one week to meet the team with which I work closely every day via email. During this visit, I attended ADIPEC 2019, one of the biggest Oil and Gas events in the world. By that time, I had carried out around 100 Leg Penetration Analyses for jack-up vessels, but I had never actually seen one. During this week in Abu Dhabi, I got to attend the christening of one new jack-up vessel, and I even received a guided tour inside this unit. I also had the chance to talk to the crew of the vessel and explain the major geohazards during the installation of jack-up legs. I am grateful to AqualisBraemar and OWC for this opportunity because this experience changed my mindset completely, as I got to see in person one of these barges and take in its dimensions, which is not at all compared to seeing it in pictures.