{"id":6581,"date":"2022-08-01T12:34:52","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T11:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/2022\/08\/01\/our-alumni-making-the-world-a-safer-place\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T17:25:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T17:25:47","slug":"our-alumni-making-the-world-a-safer-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/2022\/08\/01\/our-alumni-making-the-world-a-safer-place\/","title":{"rendered":"Our alumni Colette: Making the world a safer place through innovative technologies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Colette Bell graduated from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchester.ac.uk\/study\/undergraduate\/courses\/2026\/09895\/meng-materials-science-and-engineering\/\">MEng Materials Science and Engineering<\/a> course just a couple of years ago. She caught up with the Materials Blog to tell us about her time here at Manchester and what she&#8217;s been doing since!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hi Colette, thank you so much for joining us! Tell us what you are doing now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"455\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/08\/C-Bell-Roke-600x455-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7353\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.3187375506559516;width:347px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/08\/C-Bell-Roke-600x455-1.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/08\/C-Bell-Roke-600x455-1-300x228.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Colette Bell, our graduate from the MEng Materials Science and Engineering course<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s great to speak to you! So since graduating two years ago, I&#8217;ve been working for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.roke.co.uk\/\">Roke<\/a>, a leading technology company that is innovating digital technologies to make the world a safer place. I\u2019m on their two-year Graduate Development Programme as an engineer using the skills from my degree and placement year at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airbus.com\/en\">Airbus<\/a> to help develop cutting-edge products that help service personnel, amongst others, navigate the most hostile environments.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c531013 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p>Roke has a history of delivering original solutions. It has developed household-name technologies like those in Hawk-eye, ANPR, and DAB radios, and has more under-the-radar expertise in things like acoustic sensing of drones and artillery, adversarial AI, electronic warfare and cyber security.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I have been involved in research around deploying AI on edge devices, developing physical hardware products to tight tech specs, and shortly I\u2019m moving on to a software engineering project, which is completely new for me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">&#8220;I&#8217;m taking every opportunity I can at Roke to grow my skill set!&#8221;<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Alongside my engineering responsibilities I am a site co-ordinator for STEM outreach: organising career talks, practical workshops and mentoring with local schools. I believe ongoing engagement with young people is really important and I\u2019m pleased that Roke supports this and encourages us to spend time in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How did your degree help you to get where you are now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Writing technical documents like bids and research reports is essential to my job and is a skill that all science and engineering degrees develop. I regularly use my materials knowledge in hardware development. Also I\u2019ve been able to utilise the CAD skills I picked up as part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/manchesterseds\/?hl=en-gb\">ManSEDS <\/a>Rover design team. Most of all, I was able to talk about the work I did for my master&#8217;s research project during my grad scheme interview, to demonstrate how I approach problems and stay motivated on long tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What advice would you give to young people considering a career in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There is so much to say here! Inspiring a diverse pipeline in to STEM careers is vital to keep the UK&#8217;s industries world-leading. A room full of people with different backgrounds and experiences will always come up with more innovative ideas than a room full of the same type of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>STEM industries are facing skills gaps across the board and are looking to invest in and train up people with a range of interests and educational backgrounds. Embrace your individuality and bring it to the table!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">&#8220;A room full of people with different backgrounds and experiences will always come up with more innovative ideas than a room full of the same type of people.&#8221;<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s completely fine to not know what you want to do in your career. I don\u2019t think many people ever do for certain (I don\u2019t!). Your choice of degree will not define your career path. The non-technical skills you gain at university are just as, if not more, important than the technical ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The right employer will not expect you to do your job perfectly on day one. They will see your motivation and willingness to learn and should be investing in training to achieve your full potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">&#8220;Knowing that what I do in my day job contributes positively to society makes me feel good about going to work every day.&#8221;<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I have found my job satisfaction comes from working for a cause I care about. Knowing that what I do in my day job contributes positively to society makes me feel good about going to work every day. There are so many opportunities for this in STEM!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What was the best thing about studying at The University of Manchester?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-uom-post-size is-resized is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/materials-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/07\/C-Bell-Airbus-scaled-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/uommaterialsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2022\/07\/C-Bell-Airbus-768x494.jpg\" alt=\"Photograph of Colette at Airbus\" class=\"wp-image-2542\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.554673414518425;width:429px;height:auto\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The University&#8217;s dedication to research and innovation really inspired me, which became a deciding factor when looking for grad jobs. The facilities and teaching staff are excellent. I\u2019m gutted to have just missed the opening of the new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mecd.manchester.ac.uk\/\">MECD campus<\/a>, it looks like an incredible space to study. Having lecturers who incorporated their research into the taught material gave us valuable context to what we were learning. Outside the classroom there are so many <a href=\"https:\/\/manchesterstudentsunion.com\/activities\">clubs and societies<\/a>, some of which I only discovered in my final year and wished I\u2019d joined earlier!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">And what do you think of Manchester as a city?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s such a fun and exciting place to be especially with its emerging \u2018Tech Hub\u2019 status. I was in Manchester for 7 years before relocating to Southampton for my graduate job. Manchester&#8217;s got a unique buzz I\u2019ve not found anywhere else. I\u2019ve missed it enough that I\u2019m shortly moving back! Roke is growing and we have a new office in Salford Quays, which I am looking forward to being a part of. To the North!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">We look forward to welcoming you back to Manchester Colette and wish you the best of luck for your future career!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Interested in studying Materials Science and Engineering at The University of Manchester? Why not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchester.ac.uk\/study\/undergraduate\/open-days-visits\/open-days\/\">register for one of our open days <\/a>and visit us in person, or look through our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.materials.manchester.ac.uk\/study\/undergraduate\/\">courses on our Department of Materials website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hear from different alumni about their experiences and career paths in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/tag\/alumni\/\" id=\"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/tag\/alumni\/\">alumni section<\/a> of our blog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colette Bell graduated from the Materials Science &amp; Engineering MEng course just a couple of years ago. She caught up with the Materials Blog to tell us about her time here at Manchester and what she&#8217;s been doing since!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[365,514],"tags":[358,81,134,707,337],"class_list":["post-6581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-stories","category-undergraduate","tag-alumni","tag-careers","tag-engineering","tag-materials-science","tag-women-in-stem"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Our alumni Colette: Making the world a safer place through innovative technologies - Science and Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Colette Bell graduated from the Materials Science &amp; Engineering MEng course just a couple of years ago. 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