How do you use YouTube to share your interests?
My work gives me a real sense of optimism and progress, so I wanted to share that with a wider audience. Renewable energy technologies are what I know best, and I am frustrated at how little people understand the real engineering behind them. I wanted to share the promising technologies, what challenges remain, and how engineers are solving them. My channel attracts industry insiders as well as everyday people who want to minimize their environmental impact. I hope the information I provide will help them to make more informed decisions about these technologies in their work or daily lives.
How do you use YouTube to engage your audience and develop your content?
I work in a very male-dominated field, and I wasn’t sure how I would be received, but my audience is the best. People share their experiences with similar technologies (a lot of my audience work in the industry) and debate the pros and cons and ideas to solve problems. I had a lot of really helpful feedback early on that helped me to improve my production quality. I really love how it feels like a community of people, who want to make the channel better. I’m using features like the Community tab to get feedback for upcoming videos, ideas for questions ahead of interviews, or to figure out what topics I should focus on in a live stream.
What are some challenges you have faced as a woman in your field of expertise, and how did you overcome them?
I’ve certainly experienced sexism throughout my professional career, often very subtle but occasionally quite blatant. A lot of women have dropped out of engineering as a result. I used to have a distinct work persona that was carefully trimmed of the "girly" parts of my personality, but now I try to make sure my channel reflects the real me.
Engineers are solving the world's big problems. We need the best talent possible, and diversity is so important to innovation. When I watch biopics about scientists like Alan Turing or Stephen Hawking, I feel sad watching the university scenes with no female students. People might assume girls are less interested in engineering than boys, but I don’t think that’s true. My earliest engineering experiments were baking, and sewing clothes for my Barbie. I’d encourage anyone who’s interested in engineering to pursue it because I know how satisfying it is for me as a career, and I want everyone to have a chance to find their passion.