A graduate engineer says she will be offering a ‘fresh perspective’ after joining UK Power Networks through its first post-university recruitment scheme in more than five years.
Naiya Hirji was selected over more than 4,400 other applicants to gain a spot on the electricity firm’s elite graduate scheme.
Originally hailing from Harrow in West London, she’ll be working as an innovation graduate engineer after completing a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Warwick.
She is one of 11 graduates to have won places on UK Power Networks’ first post-university scheme in more than five years and will be working in roles such as innovation, design, and for the electricity firm’s Distribution System Operator.
The opportunity proved popular with more than 4,400 university leavers applying for the roles at the country’s biggest electricity distributor, and skills she learns will contribute to maintaining a reliable electricity network as people increasingly use electricity to run low carbon technologies such as Electric Vehicles and heat pumps.
Naiya said: “It feels great to be valued as a graduate and trusted to work on active projects that will positively impact the customers. It’s an exciting opportunity to work with and learn from so many experienced people in the field at such an important company.”
Naiya’s day-to-day responsibilities will see her looking at the latest technologies and techniques to help make the power grid as efficient and sustainable as possible.
She said: “I look forward to bringing my ideas from a fresh perspective.
“Going into engineering I did find myself to be one of few women within the industry. It was especially evident at university when doing group projects.
“However, I did feel like I could see myself bringing a different angle to certain things, having different skills fundamentally, which often did benefit the group. So it’s great to see a company like UK Power Networks interested in empowering women and bringing more into the industry.”
Naiya said her passion for the environment was a contributing factor towards her interest in the role. She said: “Given the current shift towards Net Zero and sustainability, the electricity industry is going through a demanding time where new technologies and ideologies are more vital than ever to achieve these challenging targets.
“It’s such a pivotal time to help drive the initiative of Net Zero. Helping to enable the public to make these environmentally positive changes is very important in this climate and I feel privileged to be a part of that.”
UK Power Networks delivers electricity to 8.5 million homes and businesses across London, the South East and the East. The scheme is the first of its kind in five years at the electricity firm, designed to tackle the fact that engineering roles are among the hardest to fill as university leavers are more inclined to join other industries such as finance, data and IT.
However, according to Engineering UK, engineering and technology jobs are predicted to grow faster than other occupations, in all UK regions between now and 2030. In addition, the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) estimates there is a 173,000 shortfall in workers in the STEM sector – costing the economy £1.5 billion per year.
Barry Hatton, who is director of Asset Management at UK Power Networks following a 43-year career, said: “It’s great to see talent coming into the business to help us address the challenges of facilitating the delivery of the low carbon transition for our customers. I am very impressed with the quality of our new recruits and they join our company at a fantastic time given the scale and speed of the decarbonisation challenge.”
Stephanie Baxter, Head of Policy at the IET added: “Graduate schemes like this are a great step towards plugging the nation’s STEM skills gap and ensuring the next generation are equipped with the right skills and knowledge to engineer a better world for us all.
“Many people still don’t understand the work of engineers or appreciate how much society depends on their skills and innovation. This is why the UK is not going to have enough engineers in the next decade, so it is vital that we attract lots of new people from different backgrounds.”
