Alumni
Alumni
“I’ve always loved maths, science and computing and spent a lot of time writing codes and drawing shapes.”
But it wasn’t until she’d completed the Indian equivalent of A-levels in high school that Samidha really began to consider her career options.
She added: “It was true then and I think, in many ways is still true now, there wasn’t much awareness of the job routes available from studying engineering.
“But I decided on Mechanical Engineering and sat an exam to get a place at engineering college in India.”
Despite a difficult job market following her graduation in India, Samidha first worked as a Business Development Executive for an organisation which focused on coding and web design for clients, before securing her first engineering role.
She was employed by Mahindra Satyam in Hyderabad and spent time working on assembly instructions and creating virtual assembly aids to support the assembly of components.
Engineering Manager and aftertreatment validation expert on the Cat® C0.5 to C2.2 range of engines for Caterpillar in the UK.
Samidha Anand has been selected by the Women’s Engineering Society as one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering in 2021 as part of the annual Engineering Heroes (WE50) awards.
Conversations with a friend about furthering her studies in the UK led Samidha to make contact with Northumbria, where she was offered a £1,500 scholarship and support with the visa application process for her move to Newcastle.
“Moving to the North East was my first international trip and the first time travelling on my own,” she said.
Academic staff within the Engineering and Environment Faculty at Northumbria also have an impressive track record of outstanding achievement in STEM subject areas.
“It was scary, but I had so much support from everyone at Northumbria to take me step by step through everything from the change in culture to the onboarding for my course.”
As an Engineering Manager and aftertreatment validation expert on the Cat® C0.5 to C2.2 range of engines, the 38-year-old has immersed herself in helping others take an interest in STEM, not least by overseeing work experience for young people through her role as Apprentice Manager.
“I was lucky enough to be given details of a contact at Caterpillar by one of the tutors on my course and I applied for most of the jobs advertised on their website as my studies were coming to an end,”
Now she is also a Caterpillar in the UK ambassador for the Society of Women Engineers and a member in the company’s employee resource group for their internal women’s initiative network.
“I was lucky enough to be given details of a contact at Caterpillar by one of the tutors on my course and I applied for most of the jobs advertised on their website as my studies were coming to an end.
From designing the components and assessing the strength of materials to 3D printing and rapid prototyping skills, Samidha says the knowledge she picked up on her Master’s Degree course was vital to her kick-starting her career in the UK.
“So many of the basics from the modules on my course, I still use every day in my work,” she explained.
Samidha does everything she can to raise awareness of the range of opportunities studying engineering or any STEM subject can bring.
Through her role as a Caterpillar in the UK ambassador for the Society of Women Engineers, she hopes to inspire other young women to consider an engineering career in the future.
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