Nikki’s call to arms for female engineers
AN INSPIRATIONAL young engineer is making it her mission to encourage more women to enter the industry.
Nikki Gillatt, 24, is taking the engineering world by storm, carving out a career in a male-dominated environment at Caterpillar HQ in Desford.
The pioneering young engineer says that she is passionate to get other women to enter the engineering world, and has even set up Caterpillar’s first ever Women in Engineering Group.
Nikki, who says she loves to get her hands dirty, started out on the company’s graduate scheme and has since gone on to work in manu- facturing engineering, supply chain and product support.
She said that she wants to inspire school leavers and fellow graduates that engineering suits women as much as it does men.
She added: “I believe that the best teams are diverse teams, and within the engineering industry that would be more inclusive of women.
“For any women who may be unsure to go into this sector I would like to give them the confidence that, if other girls can, they can too! Why don’t they give it a try?
“My every day job is so varied, and no day is the same. Engineering can involve computer-aided design (CAD) exposure, hands on opportunities, problem solving, dealing with processes, data collating and analysing, and much more.
“There are so many sectors in engineering that people might not be aware about, from working in the office on CAD and simulation, to working outside testing, to working in a factory on assembly. There is so much opportunity and differences in skill sets between roles.
“If you are a visual, practical person who is perhaps good with their hands this could be the sector for you.”
Nikki is also a keen racing driver, racing cars around the UK’s most famous tracks such as Silverstone, and building her own engines.
She said she strives to go into a leadership and managerial role one day, but says her “ambition is to keep progressing, get more responsibilities, and be faced with and manage greater challenges.”