1. What does a typical day look like in your role?

“A lot of my day-to-day revolves around working directly with customers. That could be answering questions, helping troubleshoot models, and understanding what they’re aiming to achieve. Or it might be something like explaining how MASTA is working in the background or helping them apply MASTA to a specific problem they’re facing. Sometimes that’s over email, and sometimes it’s through meetings where we go through things together in more detail.

I also run training sessions and create supporting materials, so customers can build confidence using MASTA independently. We tailor a lot of this to specific needs, which keeps things interesting.

It’s quite varied – between supporting customers, training, events, and staying up to date with new features, no two days are exactly the same.”

2. What first inspired you to pursue engineering?

“I’d always been interested in maths, physics, and design so engineering felt like a natural combination of all those things. Alongside that, I’d also had quite a bit of experience in customer-facing roles. At university I was involved in mentoring, outreach, and being a student ambassador. I really enjoyed that side of things too. So this role feels like a good blend of both: the technical side and being able to work with people, helping them solve problems. That combination is what drew me in.”

3. What’s the most interesting or rewarding part of your work right now?

“There’s always something new to get to grips with. MASTA is such a vast piece of software, so you’re constantly building your knowledge and understanding as you go. At the same time I love helping customers work through challenges and hearing that what I’ve done that has actually made a difference – that’s really rewarding.

It’s that combination of learning something new yourself and then being able to use that knowledge to help someone else that I really appreciate.”

4. What’s something about your role that might surprise people?

“Probably just how broad it is. I think people might assume a role like this is quite focused or narrow, but actually it covers a lot of ground, both technically and in terms of how we work with customers.

Since joining SMT, I’ve continued to discover all of MASTA’s ever-growing capabilities; It can be used across so many different stages of design and analysis, and for an endless list of different types of problems. That was definitely something that surprised me.”

5. What advice would you give to someone considering a career in engineering?

“Follow what genuinely interests you, that’s probably the most important thing. If you’re interested in something, that interest is what will keep you motivated when things get challenging. Those harder problems are much easier to work through when you actually want to understand them, when you care.

I’d also say don’t be afraid to ask for help. That was something I found quite difficult at first, but engineering is very collaborative. And learn to ask questions, not just when you’re stuck, but as part of how you operate. It makes a huge difference to your learning and it benefits everyone.”

6. What skills have been most important in your role?

“Communication has been a big one for me. So much of the role is customer-facing, it’s not just about understanding a problem, it’s about being able to explain it clearly and help someone else move forward.

Alongside that, problem solving is obviously key, and I’d also say positivity. The work can sometimes be challenging, so having a positive mindset helps you stay motivated and keep working through problems, whether you’re solving them yourself or helping someone else to find a solution.”

7. What are you currently working on?

“One of the things I’m really enjoying at the moment is the increased focus on training and building stronger relationships with customers. We’re putting more emphasis on running sessions, sharing knowledge, and being more proactive in helping customers get more value from MASTA from day one.

It’s shifting from just reacting when a customer needs help, to building more of a partnership – where we’re working with customers more closely and supporting them on an ongoing basis. That’s been really exciting to be part of.”