Sophie Harker visited College on Friday 13th October 2023, and to claim her visit was stellar is an understatement! Sophie is the Assistant Chief Engineer of Electric Products at BAE Systems, responsible for electric and hybrid air vehicles.
She was one of the youngest engineers to gain Chartered Engineer status with the RAeS and was IET’s Young Woman Engineer of the Year amongst a host of other prizes and awards. She is passionate about promoting women in STEM and we were very lucky to hear from her.
Perhaps most excitingly, Sophie aspires to become an astronaut. She is already an Analogue Astronaut, which is someone who takes part in simulated missions on Earth to test equipment and theories that will help those traveling into space in the future. Sophie gave students the opportunity to ask her about both her career in Engineering and her journey towards space.
Sophie regaled us with tales of her first Analogue Astronaut mission for Lunares in 2023, where she was locked in a bunker in Poland with five strangers for weeks! Sophie described some intense moments, including two instances where different members of the team (one being her!) faced potentially life-threatening situations.
What struck me most about Sophie was her positivity, resilience, and recognition of the value of the journey. Whilst Sophie accepts she may never make it into space, she continues to pursue her dream and reflects on the things she has learned and the experiences she has had along the way. She is now studying for a Masters in Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge.
At the end, students flocked to ask her further questions about her life and work, showing the utterly mesmerising nature of her talk. We look forward to welcoming Sophie back to College in the future to inspire even more of our community!
Dr Woolstenhulme, Teacher of Religious Studies and Philosophy and Teacher in Charge of Academic Scholarship: Enrichment
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