Mandy Zhao

“Both my parents are engineers and it was natural for me to become an engineer when I enjoyed the subjects in school. I had very few female classmates in my academic classes when I pursued higher education in US. Stereotypes do exist for females in engineering. The more challenging part in a technical job is the need to constantly improve your technical knowledge to keep pace with technological developments. I believe in keeping an open mind and continuously improving myself to prove my professionalism at work.”

Mandy Zhao, Senior Safety Compliance Engineer, TÜV SÜD America.

Did you always know that you wanted a career in Engineering?

It was quite natural for me because both my parents are engineers so I grew up in an engineering environment. Even in school, I mastered maths very quickly and I enjoyed engineering subjects like science, physics and maths. To me, it’s nature. I just chose what I liked and studied in that area.

What advice would you give to women interested in engineering but daunted by the male-dominated Industry?

Choose what you like, believe in yourself, and continue to work at it. I believe that if you really want to accomplish something, you will find ways to make it happen. Again, continuously improving yourself will eventually make you outstanding.

How do you balance being an engineer and a mum?

In current society, professional women tend to face more challenges than men. In most families, men have more time to focus on their job, travel more etc. Women usually have more responsibilities in the family. My personal experience, however, is to have individuals in the family to work together as partners; each have different roles and contributions to the family as the system operates well this way.