While the technical challenges are significant, it’s the collaboration between people across the organisation that makes innovation possible, as he explained: “I’d say 90 per cent of my job is about working with others. That includes internal teams in engineering, manufacturing, sales and customer service, and, just as importantly, our customers. Listening to their needs is essential to delivering solutions.”

That’s why the theme for this year’s International Women in Engineering Day – #TogetherWeEngineer – aligns perfectly with Andy’s approach to engineering. He said: “The nature of engineering has evolved enormously over my career. In the past, things were very much about mechanical engineering and parts working together. Now it’s about systems thinking: hardware, software, electronics and the services that support them.  

“That transformation means we all have to work together to understand how we can deliver benefits to the customer through our engineering solutions. That’s the real power of diversity.”

Having worked in some of the world’s cutting-edge engineering teams, such as Formula 1 teams Williams Racing and McLaren, Andy has seen first-hand how people from different countries, backgrounds and disciplines work together consistently outperform.

“Engineering is about being able to bring ideas and solutions to life. And if you have a broader, more diverse pool of ideas to draw on in the first place, you deliver something better. There’s a direct correlation: you get more ideas, better problem solving and, ultimately, better outcomes.”

Andy said he wishes more women were represented in engineering and hopes that school-based initiatives will inspire more girls to explore the field. He said: “There are so many ways to get involved in engineering today – from product design and software engineering right through to marketing and after-service. I hope that young people will be excited by the breadth of the opportunities there are in engineering.”