Empowering Our Engineers: Chloe Pearson
- Chloe’s Journey to Babcock Canada
- Life at Babcock Canada
- Life as an Engineer
- Chloe’s Advice to Young Women Looking to Pursue a Career in Engineering or STEM
November 25th marks International Systems Engineer Day, a day that was founded in 2012 as a way of saying thank you to the professionals who use their technical expertise and passion for technology to design and build innovative systems to meet business needs.
This year, we are excited to recognize International Systems Engineer Day by highlighting one of Babcock’s own: Chloe Pearson.
Chloe’s Journey to Babcock Canada
Chloe began her academic journey in 2010 at the University of Southampton where she obtained her Certificate of Higher Education in Mathematics. After being out of school for a few years, Chloe decided to go back to college with the intent to gain a versatile education that would provide her with a variety of career opportunities. With a passion for STEM and an analytical mind, Chloe wanted a career where she could see the output of her efforts in the ‘real world.’
As a result, Chloe decided to enroll at Algonquin College and entered the Mechanical Engineering Technology program. As part of her diploma, Chloe had the opportunity to participate in a student work term placement, which ultimately led her to Babcock Canada.
“My dad had been a submariner on the Victoria Class submarines and worked in the engineering field. He suggested I consider opportunities in the defence or marine industries and specifically recommended I look at Babcock’s co-op opportunities. I took his advice and later joined Babcock in 2017 for a one-year co-op placement in the Combat Systems Integration Group. I moved to Canada from the United Kingdom as a teenager after the Victoria Class submarines were Canadianized and never imagined I would end up working on them as an adult.”
Life at Babcock Canada
After the completion of her co-op placement, Chloe stayed on part-time while finishing her diploma. In 2019, Chloe became a permanent employee.
She spent most of her time at Babcock as a Systems Integration Technologist. In this role, Chloe worked on a variety of projects and was responsible for processing improvement activities in the Design and Systems Engineering Department as well as on waterfront engineering activities. These projects included: defining the systems integration approach, assessing and communicating the potential impacts of engineering changes to the Victoria Class submarines, tracking changes to the platforms, and optimizing work period processes to become more efficient and enable data driven decision making.
In May 2023, Chloe undertook a one-year assignment with Babcock International Group’s Global Engineering Function where she assumed the role of Group Engineering Capability Lead for the International by Design program.
In this role, Chloe works closely with subject matter experts across all sectors and regions of Babcock International Group to develop an understanding of the similarities and differences across the business and how Babcock can work best together as an international organization.
To best determine how to enable and empower Babcock’s engineers across the globe, Chloe listens to the experiences of engineers to better understand the challenges they face and works towards implementing long-term sustainable solutions via engineering systems, tools, and common ways of working. Chloe also supports Babcock’s digital engineering transformation strategy by developing relationships with external software suppliers to ensure Babcock’s engineers have what they need in order to deliver.
Life as an Engineer
“I am fortunate to present to and receive direction and guidance from engineering leaders across the business on a regular basis which is giving me insight and understanding of the strategic decision making undertaken at the top of the organization.
While engineering is a fulfilling career for Chloe, she shared that it of course has its challenges when in the thick of a project.
“It can be hard to make the time to step back from delivery and ensure that what we are doing is providing the most value. We are always busy and eager to get into the solutions, but it is critical we take time to reflect throughout the projects we deliver to confirm our solutions meet the requirements of the project at hand.
Even with the challenges presented, for individuals like Chloe with a passion for problem solving, engineering has ticked many of her younger self’s boxes by providing an analytical career and a breadth of opportunity.
“I really enjoy the variety within engineering, how much I am always learning, and the people I work with. It is interesting when I get to speak with a variety of different people, understand the challenges they are experiencing, and collaborate with them to overcome those challenges. It is very rewarding career, especially when you are able to solve a big challenge and fulfill your stakeholders’ requirements.”
Chloe’s Advice to young women looking to pursue a career in engineering or a STEM field:
“Go for it. It can feel intimidating entering a male dominated field or space, but almost everyone wants you to be here just as much as you want to be here.
Consider all options and say yes to opportunities when they come your way, don’t worry too much about what you know or don’t know, and don’t worry too much about career paths when you’re starting out. Just give things a go! It’s hard to know what you will or won’t like until you try it – I didn’t even know what systems engineering was until I got into Babcock!
Finally, consider college as a potential entry point. College will give you the opportunity to get some hands-on experience as well as the theoretical courses, and often colleges have a smaller class size. You can always go to university for a couple of years afterwards if you want your P.Eng.”
