Padmaja Das: submarines and nuclear energy
Padmaja Das studied Aerospace Engineering BEng, graduating in 2011. After university, she went straight into working for the Ministry of Defence where she became a Military Officer, trained on Vangaurd, Dreadnought and Astute Class submarines, specialising in pressurised water reactors.
After a fruitful ten-year career in defence, she took this specialist knowledge into roles at BAE Systems, working as an Engineer on Dreadnought Class Submarines, before beginning her role at Rolls Royce SMR (Small Modular Reactor), where she now works as a Nuclear Deterministic Engineer.
My proudest moment...
"The day I gained my submarine qualification on board HMS Vengeance, and the commissioning day when I became an Officer."
My day job
"I now work at Rolls Royce SMR, the UK’s first new domestic nuclear technology in more than 20 years. I am responsible for ensuring the safety of these nuclear reactors, providing clean and green energy to the UK."
On top of my day job...
"...I am a committee member for the REACH, Sentinel and GENIE networks, working on gender equality, diversity and inclusion, and veterans rights, and forging a fair pathway for the next generation of engineers.
I am passionate about promoting nuclear engineering to women and ethnic minority personnel.
I have recently been shortlisted as a finalist within the category of 'Engineering Excellence' at the Novi Awards, celebrating "women breaking barriers".
Queen Mary allowed me to imagine my future
"My degree gave me the base to pursue a career in engineering. Without this degree, imagining a career within engineering would have been impossible. Queen Mary has played a vital role in the success of my career. Not to forget the compassion, understanding and support of my professors and lecturers - I will never forget them."
My favourite memory of Queen Mary is...
"...graduation day. I am the only female engineer in my family and my mother fought for my rights to study engineering, so graduation day was particularly impactful for us.
I'll also always remember getting to fly on a plane at Cranfield University, and using the data collected for my coursework.
My circumstances - coming from a low socio-economic background - are a classic example of 'hard work always pays off'. I would work night shifts in Debenhams, and still attend all my morning classes. In life, resilience, determination and hard work is what ultimately leads to success."
The best thing about studying at Queen Mary was...
"...my lecturers and professors: their depth of knowledge, the passion they held for teaching and the support that they provided to every student to help them develop.
Conducting lab tests in the aerospace laboratories really instilled the theory we were learning with practical experience."
If I could say one thing to engineering students...
"Hard work is the key to success.
Teachers, lecturers and professors are people who will recognise hard work and support you through university, making sure you achieve your final goal. However, you need to give them the basics - the desire to learn and grow.
Strive to become a strong, independent and ethical individual. You will face barriers, and you must be courageous to strive for excellence in a tricky field such as engineering. Never give up, no matter how hard life may seem. There will be people operating tirelessly in the background to catch you if you were to fall, such as family, friends, lecturers at university and professionals like myself, who are breaking the glass ceiling to establish a more equal and fair industry."