Laura Shrieves is a Systems Engineering Manager for Thales'  Training and Simulation business. Previously she worked in the UK Engineering Team, reporting to the UK Director of Systems. And before that laura was a System Design Architect for Thales' eSecurity business after time as a work package leader for their  Watchkeeper project.

Laura joined Thales graduate programme straight from University where she achieved a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence followed by a Master’s degree in Human Centered Computer Systems.

Laura chose to be an engineer as she has always been curious about how things work - usually by taking them apart and putting them back together. Engineering allows her to be both practical and creative, which is something that is very important to her.

Looking back, on the highlights of her career so far, Laura was delighted to win the Royal Academy of Engineering's Young Engineer of the Year award. Open to both men and women, winning meant a lot to Laura. Another highlight for Laura has been her recognition as a Thales Specialist through the Thales specialists and experts career development route. She is also pleased that she has obtained her chartered engineer status.

The main challenges in her job today are in understanding a completely new domain. She also has to understand the increase in complexities in technologies, environment and customers in order to deliver the best product.

"In the future I'd really to focus on progressing through the specialists and experts route and obtain the next level of  "Thales Expert" status within the organisation", explains Laura.

"Women should most certainly consider a career in Thales. The sheer variety of the work is extensive. People outside Thales think I’ve only ever had one job but in reality I’ve had five positions and I've gained lots of really great varied experience in the process!"