ENGINEERING IN FOCUS


Academy’spioneeringwork to close the skills gap


Championing engineers’ key role in society, addressing the shortage of engineers from all backgrounds in the UK workforce as part of a drive for diversity and equality and to address the skills gap, and close working with key engineering institutes to ensure that the profession’s voice is heard, are among the key priorities for Dr Hayaatun Sillem, who became the Royal Academy of Engineering’s CEO last January. When she met with HEJ’s editor, Jonathan Baillie, recently, she explained that she had not only been ‘hugely honoured’ to have secured the role, but also feels now is ‘a particularly exciting time’ for UK engineers.


‘Engineering matters. It underpins our daily lives, drives economic growth, plays a critical role in addressing major societal challenges, and helps ensure our readiness for the future – from providing a sustainable supply of food, water and clean energy, to advancing healthcare, and keeping us safe and secure’. These words – from the Royal Academy of Engineering’s website – make clear the profession’s importance in all aspects of our daily lives, and during my hour’s discussion with Dr Sillem it became clear that she is a firm proponent of engineers’ positive impact on society, with what she dubs ‘a real personal passion for engineering and the people working within it’.


In fact, it transpired, she only entered the engineering profession by chance. “During the latter stages of my schooling at Hammersmith’s Godolphin and Latymer School,” she explained, “I was keen to pursue a scientific career, and on leaving school studied for a Master’s Degree in biochemistry at Oxford University. I then studied for a PhD with Cancer Research UK at University College London, gaining the doctorate in 2002. Unfortunately my career as a biochemist was short-lived – I discovered that I was sensitive to some of the laboratory chemicals that I would have had to work with, which made pursuing such a career impractical.”


Enforced change of direction Although a setback, the enforced change set her on a different, but equally interesting career path – in engineering. Soon after completing her PhD, she joined the Royal Academy of Engineering as an Engineering Policy advisor, before being recruited in 2005 by the Department for International Development, having the previous year become a Committee Specialist to the Government’s Science and Technology Select Committee. She was later a Specialist Advisor to the


and Technology in March 2017, and was appointed as the Academy’s CEO last January. Her interest in boosting engineering skills, expertise, and capacity overseas, has remained with her throughout.


Dr Hayaatun Sillem: “We need to focus not only on attracting people to the profession, but also on upskilling and re-skilling to ensure that the skills of our workforce keep pace with our competitors internationally.”


House of Commons Science & Technology Committee. In 2006 she re-joined the Academy as its head of International Activities, going on to lead its partnership with Africa, and to publish a report, Engineers for Africa: Identifying engineering capacity needs in Sub- Saharan Africa. Appointed the Academy’s director of Programmes and Fellowship in 2011, she became director of Strategy and deputy CEO in May 2016, was made a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering


‘Stumbled’ into engineering Beginning with her early career, Dr Sillem said: “After discovering that I was extremely physically sensitive to some laboratory-based chemicals – which rendered working as a biochemist impractical – I had to re-think my ‘grand plan’. I rather stumbled into engineering policy, and have pretty much stayed in engineering and technology policy and programme leadership ever since.” It had ‘been fantastic’, she explained, coming into engineering from the biosciences, because the former gave her ‘a particular insight’. “Think about what attracts people into the biosciences,” she said, “and it’s largely the fact that you think you are really going to make a difference, contributing to ground-breaking research. What many biosciences professionals don’t realise is that it is through engineering that the potential benefits created by the ‘Eureka’ moment in science are converted to tangible products and services that actually benefit people. Think about how the forefront of science advances, and the progression is entirely dependent on the tools – such as instrumentation. Engineers are fundamental to these. Unfortunately, engineers’ role in the delivery of healthcare is very poorly understood. I am delighted that I have ended up doing something very much aligned to what motivated me in the first instance. Maybe my experience can help me communicate to others some of the hidden enabling role of engineers.”


A novel career choice at the time I asked Dr Sillem whether she had any particular ‘leaning’ toward science or


January 2019 Health Estate Journal 35


The Royal Academy of Engineering


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