Aerospace engineer - Jenny Findlow-Howell

I'm an aerospace engineer with the Aeronautical and Maritime Research Laboratory, part of Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO).

At the Laboratory in Melbourne, I provide technical support to keep gas turbine engines such as those in RAAF aircraft running as long as possible with minimal maintenance.

We test components of gas turbine engines and redesign some engine parts to improve them and increase their life span. I am deputy manager of a $10 million combustion test facility which is the largest of its type in the southern hemisphere.

I also measure temperatures and rates of heat transfer, collecting information that will be used to model the combustion process in gas turbine engines using a computer. It's a complex and difficult task, but one that will really help us with our experimental tests.

My work helps support Australia's defence forces and keeps them operating at their peak. It also contributes to our understanding of gas turbine combustion.

Although I was never pushed into science, having a scientific family steered me in that direction. I have always been interested in mathematics and designing things and when I began learning to fly light aircraft in year 12, it was easy for me to choose the Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering degree.

My advice for girls particularly is not to be put off by high male/female ratios or people who tell you that science isn't for girls. I work in a building with 40 men and three women, and all my colleagues are easy to work with and very helpful.

This work is reproduced from the Women in Science Enquiry Network
PO Box 647 Glebe 2037,
http://www.usyd.edu.au/wisenet

"Science Futures" was produced by Wisenet with the aid of a grant from the Department of Industry, Science and Tourism Science and Technology Awareness Program.