Lucy Norman enjoys a rewarding career at Siemen Healthineers

As a Design Engineer for Siemens Healthineers, Lucy Norman takes a set of requirements or problem statements and use these to design a solution.

“A lot of my role involves problem solving and asking the questions how can this be made cheaper? Or make the operators task easier? Or how can this design improve efficiency? As we are always striving to improve and optimise our products,” explains Lucy.

Offering career and personal development

Lucy has an Undergraduate Degree in Physics and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering. “My previous role was as a Mechanical Engineer doing design and analysis on components and sub structures on industrial alternators. That was also my first role post university.”

Currently, Lucy is involved in design work for Siemens Healthineers new product, which is very different from previous products and the start of a new era for superconducting MRI magnets.

Discussing her drive to join Siemens Healthineers, Lucy explains: “This links to wanting to work for Siemens Healthineers as I wanted to work in healthcare engineering. It has always been an interest of mine, and Siemens had a lot to offer me for my career and personal development, as well as being an industry leading company.”

While much of Lucy’s design work is completed in CAD, she gets many opportunities to go onto the shop floor, to take measurements or see the process or issue for herself and get a better idea of what will be required for the product and what will and won't work for the technicians.

Lucy says: “This allows me to work hands on and gain a greater appreciation for how my design will be used and interface.”

A rewarding career in healthcare engineering

Working at Siemens Magnet Technology allows Lucy to fulfil her passion for healthcare engineering.

“Knowing that products leaving our doors are going to improve people’s lives, enhance diagnostics, help to research new cures and treatments, and that I have had the opportunity to contribute to their design and build process, is very rewarding,” she says.

A gender-equal workplace

Lucy has never felt that her abilities were doubted by her colleagues because of her gender or been treated differently because of it.

She explains: “During my time at Siemens and the hiring process I never felt discriminated against either positively or negatively because of my gender. I know that as a female engineer there is a push to increase my demographic, and there’s a concern that you will be hired based on your gender and for the purpose of improving diversity as opposed to your merit and achievements. This was not something I have encountered at Siemens Healthineers.”

Indeed, Lucy explains that Siemens Healthineers is a welcoming and diverse workplace that wants to improve diversity and create equality within its organisation, and actively works to do so.

“During my degree I did feel that I had to prove myself to dispel any myths that women weren’t as good at physics and engineering as men and earning my place in my own right,” Lucy concedes.

“As although rare I have experienced comments such as ‘you only got that as you’re a female’ and wanted to dispel them. These are unpleasant to hear but have only made me work harder and achieve more than I thought I could.”

Encouraging young people to work in engineering

“In five years, I would like to have liked to establish myself as a competent and experienced engineer. To have developed my design skills, and to have taken design analysis on as part of my role,” she explains.

“I would also like to have a greater understanding of the products and processes used. To be the go-to person for certain issues or requests, and to become a role model to those I my position now and someone they can come to for help and advice both technical and not.”

Lucy is also passionate about empowering the younger generation to work in engineering. “I would like to see and be involved in more visits or workshops with schools and universities, to encourage young people of all backgrounds, genders and interests to work in engineering, whether they are an engineer or not.”

“To show them the diversity of jobs available within the sector and inspire those interested to pursue a career in Physics and Engineering,” she says.

Putting skills and knowledge to good use

Working at Siemens Healthineers allows Lucy to work on something she’s passionate about, “which is rewarding.”

“My passion here is encouraged and gives me the opportunity to enhance my skills and achieve my best work, in turn helping to produce the best products. My work is important to me because its what I spend most of my time doing so I want it to be something I enjoy and feel like I’m contributing to something meaningful.”

Lucy concludes, “I spent a lot of time and work to achieve what I have and to get to where I am, and I want to put those skills and my knowledge to good use and get the most out my time at work to develop this further.”