Ciara McGrath is one of many young women in engineering who want to inspire and encourage more women to pursue a career in engineering. She wants to act as a role model for engineering and inspire more girls by changing the perception of what engineering is. This is Ciara's story.

Ciara Ciara McGrath is a Reader in Aerospace Systems at the University of Manchester. She conducts engineering research projects in astrodynamics and space mission design, working with industry and policy makers to develop space systems that can support life on Earth.

Ciara also teaches university courses and supervises student projects in space systems design to support the education and development of the next generation of engineers.

Ciara's public engagement aims to make complex ideas accessible to all through practical examples, podcasts, radio interviews, written articles and public talks.

Have you ever wondered how thousands of spacecraft in Earth's orbit can speed past us at speeds of seven kilometers per second and still capture beautiful images of life here on Earth?

Satellites are already doing amazing things for life here on Earth, but we are working to change the way we operate in space today.

Spacecraft circle the Earth in orbits, flying over whatever they see on the ground. But we want to change that. Imagine if we could control a spacecraft to be above us exactly when and where we need it. We could use it to help firefighters on the ground fight wildfires or help people evacuate after floods. We could change the way we live here on Earth, and engineers will be the ones to make that change happen.

When Ciara went to university to study engineering, she knew she wanted to work in space. She remembers standing on the doorstep of a lecturer who she knew had worked on spacecraft. She took the advice of her mother, who always told her, "If you don't ask, you don't get." She walked into the office and said, "You work in space. I want to work in space. What can I do?"

From that moment on, Ciara worked on Scotland's first spacecraft, UKube-1.

"I feel like we in the UK don't really understand what engineering is. We think it's about fixing things or building things to someone else's design, but that's not the case. Engineering is about being creative, having an imagination and finding solutions to the real problems we face today."

//“If we want to create a world for everyone, everyone must be part of this engineering community.” //

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