Hi STEMinists! Welcome back to another interview, this time with Amina Hamound who works in transport as a research engineer. Her work is astounding and will likely play a vital part in the conversion over to autonomous vehicle systems. Thank you for taking part, Amina!
What is your job?
Research Engineer. I work on Autonomous Vehicles and
Intelligent Transport Systems.
When did you first realize you wanted to
do STEM?
From an early age due to my love of maths and physics at that
time. Not only out love but also because I was really good and
enjoying it.
Who were your role models growing up?
Chloe O’Brian. She is a character in the series 24h. She was my
inspiration. Even though she was just a character, She is the
one why I studied computer science.
Did you ever want to do anything else?
A pilot but failed the eye test.
Have you ever had any setbacks or been
told you are a girl so cannot do tech?
Of course, I failed in 2 first years of Uni by then everyone lost
faith in me including my parents yet I was adamant on proving
them wrong that I persevered and now reflecting on the
journey don’t regret any of it and not to sound narcissist I’m
pretty darn proud on how much I achieved and grew along the
line.
What’s one thing you’d like to change
about the STEM community?
Some STEM subjects have more females than others and I wish
there were more female in my field. We need to work together
more than ever, united, unified and stop that jealousy or
pretence among ourselves. Also, a lot are focusing on equality
and diversity for the wrong reasons. We need to rethink those
but also did you know that diversity doesn’t mean inclusion.
Inclusion is important too.
Is there a problem with sexism in the
STEM community?
There is sexism everywhere yet varies from different
institutions and their culture.
What’s your message for young girls
wanting to do STEM?
You have a dream, hold on to it and make
sure you work hard to get there. Hard work always, always pays
off. Just Be ambitious and Persevere.
What is your favourite science joke?
I don’t really joke so not sure. I’m no fun :P
What is your most embarrassing
moment in your life?
I had to make a demo for potential sponsors who were
interested in funding our work. I had everything running prior
to arrival once they got there and was ready to show my
software everything stopped working. So no demo probably
thought was lying… So embarrassing as my PI was relying on
me... Most frustrating it all worked afterwards…
What is your favourite food?
Maffe. It is a West African Nut based Stew.
What is your favourite shop?
Waterstones hands down.
Wow, thank you! We have been blown away at your incredible skill and talent! Your experiences have been fascinating to read about and will inspire many others just like it has inspired us! We wish you all the best in the future and cannot wait to hear more from you! Make sure to check out our Instagram and Twitter pages, both @cellfiemagazine, where you can keep up to date with all of our projects! Hope you are all keeping safe and well, The Cellfie Team :)