Testimonial of Young Engineer - Astrium

25 year old Belgian/French Elise Debry works as a design engineer for Astrium, the space division of the EADS Group, in Les Mureaux near Paris. For the young professional the position is her first job after completing her studies in engineering.

My career start

My interest in EADS was first ignited during an internship at Astrium as part of my studies. During the last year of my engineering course, I specialised in space engineering. After that, an internship at Astrium, one of the main European space companies, was a natural next step. When deciding what offer to take, I had a choice between staying at EADS or working for the French Space Agency (CNES). I’ve chosen a position at Astrium Space Transportation because this company, as the prime contractor of Ariane 5, the European heavy launcher, offers a very broad spectrum of activities (from mechanical design to propulsion or software) and many career opportunities. Moreover, the international aspect of Astrium was very compelling. The reason why I decided to get involved in the aeronautics field was clear: ‘problem solving’ is the name of the game. And the bigger or more complex the problem, the more fun and gratification I get from solving it.

A truly thrilling job

I am currently working on the Ariane 5 E/S Galileo project. The goal is to adapt the Ariane 5 launcher (the vessel taking the payload into space) to launch Galileo satellites into orbit. These will be used for the future European Global Positioning System. Four Galileo satellites will be launched in one mission. This requires some modifications to the existing launcher, and particularly the development of a specific structure to carry the four satellites. My role as a design engineer on this project is to ensure the consistency of the development of primary structures of the launcher so that, once assembled, the different parts, also called Stages, result in a robust launcher able to sustain the loads and carry out its mission: carry satellites into space.

Ariane 5 is a truly European project. The various parts of the launcher are designed and built in several European countries. I especially like the international aspect of my job; working with German, French and Spanish people is really interesting. After starting out at Astrium, I found everything I wanted and more in the job description. When asked what the most important prerequisites for my job are, these are very clear to me: you need a critical mind, a great deal of creativity and global thinking. Every day brings new and different situations and challenges. You have to come up with answers that prove to be right and that are able to stand the test.

A typical working day

As my contribution is the design of the launcher, I have to take care of all sorts of aspects. Questions ranging from the most appropriate materials to choose to mathematical problem-solving are my daily business – but I’m not alone! As an engineer on a very complex project, I’m really part of the team.

I frequently have to analyse new or altered problems which arise as the project progresses, and I have to be able to find appropriate solutions, elaborate a strategy and justify my solutions to highly complex technical issues. Sometimes finding a solution seems to be like looking for a needle in a haystack – but that is precisely what makes the work so interesting.

Male vs. female?

Clearly I am working in an environment with fewer women than men – about 20 per-cent of the workforce at Astrium are women. But this gender imbalance is not new for me: this is what I have been used to since the beginning of my scientific studies (in mechanical engineering). However, things are changing slowly: there are more women engineers of my age now than there were a few decades ago.

I have always liked the cooperative team work element and the focus being clearly on the many problems to solve. Also, I have never felt under pressure or alienated by my minority position. Among engineers, gender issues seem to matter less than elsewhere. Engineers – men and women alike – are focused on technical problem solving.

Work-life balance

Astrium offers me many career options and also supports me in more ways than one. The Les Mureaux site has many sports facilities which we can avail of during lunchtime or after work. Such a break in the working day improves our feeling of well-being and helps our concentration and work performance. When I look at some of my colleagues, I see that they get full maternity/paternity support in the form of part-time work and home office options. That is a good and mutually beneficial choice for employee and employer as both sides profit from such a solution.

The space race

The thought of being part of a team that actually develops a launcher to put payloads into space is one of the most challenging aspects of my daily routine. Still after three years now, I love the thought that somewhere satellites can be put into space and serve their purpose because I helped to design the launcher in just the right way.

Live launch

Each time Ariane 5 takes off, I watch the launch from Kourou live on the Internet. The launch brings everything together in one single event. I enjoy being at the forefront of cutting-edge technical development in one of my favourite fields – space!

I’m looking forward to seeing the launcher version I am working on, Ariane 5 E/S Galileo, take off! Unfortunately, I will have to wait until the end of 2014. This is one of the disadvantages of working on space development projects. You have to be patient to see the concrete results!

No drawbacks?

Well, a truly hard challenge is that you cannot test-drive a launcher before it is put into space. It goes up or it does not. So you’d better get it right straight away. No second chance for a first impression. That is quite a credo for me. I guess it is really the problem solving part that I love most!