Page 5 - WIOCC Newsletter June 2019

Employee Spotlight
Susan Collins: The Self-Taught Engineer
Susan Collins joined WIOCC in November 2015 as UK Field Engineer and currently holds the position of Field Team Lead -
UK. She is responsible for WIOCC UK’s day-to-day network support and network build deployment. Susan provides
support to WIOCC’s EU network in Marseille and Nigerian network in Lagos, as and when required. Prior to joining
WIOCC she worked for Telehouse for 15 years; she joined as an Operations Engineer and grew into the role of Operations Shift Supervisor. Susan also previously worked for Hewlett Packard
and Global One (now Orange) offering helpdesk support.
“Having studied for a language degree, it was whilst carrying out my role as helpdesk support that I developed a great interest in engineering.” Susan pursued her interest and
purchased a few engineering books. She studied during her free time and then began applying for various engineering roles. “One of the lessons I have learnt in life is that if you really want something and you are tenacious about it, you will eventually achieve your goal.’’
At present, it is still quite unusual to find a female Field Engineer in the UK. A study carried out in 2017 by the Women’s Engineering Society, showed that the UK had the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe, at less than 10 per cent. However, in comparison to 2015, there has been a positive change in the female engineering workforce from nine per cent to 11 per cent. “I am starting to see a few more female engineers around the data centres,” says Susan. “One of the things I immediately noticed about WIOCC is there seems to be a lot of women in technical roles, although based in Nairobi. I’m hoping I will see the engineering field even up within my working lifetime. It’s an interesting career and a growing industry.”
Susan grew up in Kent in south east England and is the eldest of two daughters. “My father worked for British Telecom for 37 years but is now retired.” As the apple does not fall far from the tree, she has followed closely in her father’s footsteps.
She works and lives in London with her boyfriend and four cats. Her love for animals has only recently developed. “Up until 11 years ago, I had never been
particularly besotted by animals. When my parents retired, they
bought a puppy and the entire family fell in love.” Due to the long
working hours, it was not possible to have a dog, so she adopted two kittens. “I later inherited a neighbour’s cat when they were moving away. My boyfriend moved in with his cat, so now we have a group of four felines, and I cannot imagine life without them. As a result, I spend vast amounts of time hoovering my house.” When I’m not hoovering, I enjoy gardening and carrying out DIY projects. “Being a child who grew up in the 70s and early 80s, I am quite the sci-fi geek. I really enjoyed the latest Star Trek reboot series and I am thoroughly hooked on the Battlestar Galactica reboot from 10 years’ ago.”
Susan is a go-getter, ambitious, energetic and full of enthusiasm. If
she could change the world, it would be to reverse climate change
and the decline of various species throughout the world. “It’s horrifying to think
we could lose vast amounts of the world’s wildlife in the next few decades and it’s all due to inconsiderate people.”