This year marks the 12th annual International Women in Engineering Day (23rd June). An event designed to celebrate the contributions of women in science and engineering, as well as inspire future female engineers, the theme for 2025 is ‘Together We Engineer’.
At FANUC UK, this phrase certainly holds true. Michelle Bottrill was the company’s first ever apprentice and still works for FANUC today. However, with women making up just 16.5% of engineers in the UK, it’s clear that there remains work to be done to attract more talented female engineers into the industry.
Here, Michelle and two of her FANUC UK colleagues, Hara Konstantelia and Charlotte Armstrong, reveal how they got into engineering, what their jobs entail – and why future female engineers should never feel held back because of their gender.
Automation inspiration
Hara Konstantelia is a Technical Sales Support Engineer and moved to the UK from Greece when she was 15 years old. “I’d never considered a career in engineering, but at school in England, I began to really excel at maths,” Hara explains. “Then, when I was 17, I gained a place on an engineering apprenticeship scheme at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, where I learned about robotics, CNC and mechatronics.”
Despite the fact that in her cohort of 36 students, only five were female, using robots was a turning point for Hara in terms of her future plans. “I knew this was what I wanted to do as a career,” she recalls. “My robotics trainer was a real mentor and encouraged me to apply to FANUC, where my passion for automation and robotics was further ignited.”
Hara has now worked at FANUC UK’s Coventry headquarters for six years. “As a young woman in engineering, new customers have occasionally underestimated me and treated me like the ‘junior’, directing comments and questions to my older, male colleagues. But I enjoy proving myself and it just makes me all the more determined to succeed – they soon realise that I’m here on merit!”
For any girls considering a career in engineering, Hara’s advice is to go for it! “I support young people in STEM in a variety of ways, from helping to train, judge and mentor the WorldSkills UK Industrial Robotics competition entrants, to speaking at schools and colleges on the benefits of a career in engineering and automation,” she enthuses. “Hopefully, I can demonstrate that engineering is an exciting and inspirational career path for people of all backgrounds, and not just a job for the boys.”
Practical prowess
Charlotte Armson works for FANUC UK as an Electrical/Mechanical Engineer. She began her career with the company aged just 16 and has recently completed a four-year apprenticeship in Electrical Engineering. Her colleague James Pointer, UK Project Manager, describes her as a quick learner who takes responsibility for her work and demonstrates a constant willingness to learn.
“Charlotte is unfazed in new surroundings and provides a personable service to customers,” he praises. “She regularly demonstrates a keen attention to detail, fault finding when wiring, and even scrutinising drawings ahead of executing a wiring project.”
For Charlotte, her most memorable apprentice project came during her time with the FANUC robotics team, when she independently wired a system on site with industry partners CNC Speedwell. Charlotte then helped to install the system at Mazak using her newfound skills and experience.
Breaking new ground
While Charlotte may be at the start of her engineering career, Michelle Bottrill has spent 27 years with FANUC UK since joining as the company’s very first apprentice. Now Key Account Manager – Automotive, Michelle’s career began at a time when the industry was heavily male-dominated. After completing a HNC in Mechanical Engineering, she progressed to become a Project Engineer and has held various positions within the company before taking up her current post in the automotive division.
“In the early days of my career, back in the late 1990s, there were fewer women in the industry – in my college class of 30 students, just two of us were women. The majority of my male colleagues either saw me as incapable or were overprotective of me. Despite this, it never put me off – it actually made me want to prove myself even more,” recalls Michelle.
“Since I joined FANUC, I’ve been a project engineer, a training instructor, a customer service manager, and am now employed as an automotive key account manager. It’s important to me to be able to move around the business as I enjoy continually learning – FANUC is great at supporting this. There are lots of fantastic opportunities available today for women in engineering, so for anyone considering it, I’d say you’ve got nothing to lose.”
