Danny never planned on being an engineer. He wanted to be a footballer, got pointed at engineering by a maths teacher, was knocked back from mechanical at Strathclyde, and was rejected from around 40 internship applications before SSE said yes. Three years out of university he is now working on HVDC control and protection at Hitachi Energy’s new Glasgow office, on the technology connecting offshore wind to the grid, with what he reckons is 50 years of work ahead of it.

In this episode Danny takes us from Inverness to Glasgow: a five year integrated masters in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde, two summer internships with SSEN Transmission split between the National HVDC Centre in Cumbernauld and the Inverness office, a graduate role in power systems modelling at AECOM where he was put in front of clients from day one, and the move to Hitachi Energy. He spent six months in Sweden on factory system testing, tracing faults between software and hardware before a control and protection system shipped to site, and he explains in plain terms what HVDC actually is and why it is creating thousands of jobs around the world.

Along the way we get into why university taught him how to learn rather than what to learn, why he applied for anything that interested him in the slightest, the role models who shaped him including a dad who spent his career building affordable housing in the Highlands, and the advice he would give his first year self: talk to people, treat them as friends rather than a network, and relax a bit more. Unless you are in final year, in which case relax a bit less.

If you are a student wondering whether you are good enough, Danny’s line is worth remembering. A company is not going to take you on if they cannot support you as a graduate.

Whether you are studying electrical or mechanical engineering, chasing your first internship, or trying to work out where the energy transition fits in your career, this one is for you.

Follow Engineer a Career -LinkedIn: @engineeracareerInstagram: @engineeracareerTikTok: @engineer.a.careerYouTube: @engineeracareerWebsite: www.engineeracareer.co.uk

Engineering should be a career that everyone can see themselves in, girls and boys, women and men. Right now, it isn’t. Women make up just 17% of the UK’s engineering and technology workforce.In this solo episode, Josh looks at where girls and women are lost to engineering, from the subjects they choose at school to the careers they leave. He also explains why industry has to show up much earlier, and much more consistently, if we want a workforce that reflects the people it serves.Josh doesn’t claim to have all the answers. He wants to hear what he’s missing, and this won’t be the last episode on this subject.Sources and further readingEngineeringUK, Women in engineering and technology (2026): https://www.engineeringuk.com/research-and-insights/our-research-reports/women-in-engineering-and-technology/EngineeringUK, Women in engineering dashboard (April 2026): https://www.engineeringuk.com/media/2rshp0g3/dashboard-women-in-engineering-engineeringuk-april-26.pdfEngineeringUK, infographic references, including the 2023 Science Education Tracker: https://www.engineeringuk.com/research-and-insights/infographic-references/Royal Academy of Engineering, Closing the engineering gender pay gap (2020): https://raeng.org.uk/policy-and-resources/d-i-resources/gender-pay-gapASPIRES research, UCL: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/research-projects/2017/mar/aspires-researchWomen’s Engineering Society: https://www.wes.org.ukEquate Scotland: https://equatescotland.org.ukEqual Engineers: https://equalengineers.com

In episode 69, Hayyaan joins Josh to share how great tech teachers and a school Lego club sparked his interest in engineering, why one open day settled his choice of degree, and what it was like learning anatomy at Ninewells Hospital and sitting at the controls of a Da Vinci surgical robot.

They talk about founding Dundee's first biomedical engineering society, becoming a J.P. Morgan tech brand ambassador through LinkedIn, and the AFBE conference where Hayyaan met engineers who looked like him for the first time. That moment led to the Embed project, a summer school for over 100 students from China, and three years running AFBE's Next Gen programme.

Now finishing a Masters in Global Health at the University of Glasgow, Hayyaan's dissertation looks at AI diagnostic systems claiming 100% accuracy while being tested on the wrong people. It raises a question every engineer should ask: who are we actually designing for?

If you're a worried student wondering what to do beyond your degree, or someone who thinks engineering means a hard hat and hi vis, this one is for you.

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Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayyaanrbashir
https://www.engineeracareer.co.uk