“It is increasingly important to me to use my career as a tool to address the challenges we face in our current environment. My final year Mechanical Engineering thesis, a wave-powered desalinator, was motivated by addressing water scarcity,” says Kausar Khan, engineer for renewable energy consulting at Arup in Cape Town.
 
Coming from a Muslim family and traditional background did not prevent Khan from chasing her dream, in fact quite the opposite. The strength and support she received from her family in particular, as she embarked on a traditionally perceived ‘male field of education’, was enormous.

Khan herself did not harbour any doubts about her drive and capability to successfully complete her chosen degree and put her knowledge into practice. “Self-belief and confidence are necessary for growth, and the realisation of how you can make a difference once you have qualified with an engineering degree is very motivating,” said Khan
 
Giving back to the community
 
Khan joined Arup, a global firm of design and engineering consultants, after graduating in 2013. “What attracted me to Arup was its motto of ‘shaping a better world,’” says Khan. “The firm offered me many opportunities to give back to communities. In my relative short time with Arup, I have been able to motivate for over R300, 000 of Arup Invest funds to go into community engagement projects.
 
“I have a very stimulating position at Arup with a flexibility that has allowed me to explore work in sustainability, renewable energy, mechanical building services and most recently, a three-month role in the Foresight Research and Innovation team at our head office in London. In my current role, I undertake energy consulting, due-diligence, feasibility and risk assessments on renewable projects - mainly solar and wind farms as well as biogas projects.
 
“Working on solar projects in the Northern Cape, I saw how little the province offers in terms of stimulation for youth. I realised that locals had no idea what the solar farms built in their backyards were all about. With support from Arup and the solar farm developers, I took several parties of schoolchildren on plant tours to solar farms to show them how they work and what exciting career prospects exist in the renewable energy industry. It is the planting of seeds into eager minds that shows there are no boundaries to one’s passion,” said Khan.
 
Women in engineering
 
Khan commented that while she was fortunate to have faced no restrictions in her profession, there is an element of gender bias in the educational system and in the workplace that needs addressing. “At university I came across an organisation called WomEng.

It aims to support a pipeline of female engineers by bridging the gap between high school and university, and between university and industry, through mentorship and support at these big leap stages,” Khan said.
 
Arup recently sponsored an evening at the annual WomEng Fellowship Week held in Cape Town. The Arup evening challenged students to create innovative solutions to problems in African cities using emerging disruptive technologies.

“Feedback from the event highlighted a lack of confidence in their abilities as being the largest factor that these women felt would prohibit them from achieving their dreams. There is little prohibiting women from studying in male dominated fields; the workplace is where the gender bias becomes more apparent and can knock one’s confidence.
 
“The industry is attracting more females, but not retaining them. We still struggle to see women in senior and leadership positions. We as women owe it to ourselves to continue to push these barriers in order to reflect the dual-gender environment that engineering has become.

We should not be our own glass ceiling,” concluded Khan.