Profile
Helen Littler
On the bus to work trying to answer your science questions
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About Me:
I live in Sunny Southampton with my partner and baby daughter. I work as a Civil Engineer designing cycle routes to get more people cycling. I love going for walks and going for coffee with my little family.
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I love cycling and I am looking forward to getting out on my bike with my daughter when she is big enough. She is only 8 months old so my free time tends to be spend playing with her and cleaning up her mess.
I love my garden and we are trying to grow lots of our own vegetables and fruit. I have a japanese garden that I’ve created including designing and building a gateway into it. I hope to use my woodwork skills to build my daughter a playhouse soon.
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My pronouns are:
She/Her
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My Work:
Civil Engineer leading projects to get people moving
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Because of my love of sustainable travel, I specialise in designing infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians.
I lead the design on projects, writing reports explaining our decisions and handling the financial elements. I also project manage bigger projects with lots of teams inputting into the design.
Two days a week I am based in the office and two days I work from home. Sometimes I get to visit construction sites to check on progress when they are building schemes. I also have to meet clients and members of the public to discuss designs.
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My Typical Day:
I get woken up often by my daughter but sometimes by my alarm. After breakfast I start work at 8:30 either at home or at the office. Lunch is when I find 30 mins between meetings and I head home/stop work at about 5pm.
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Depending whether I am working at home or the office, I either dress in comfy clothes or smarter clothes. If I am going to the office, I cycle in. Otherwise it is short walk to my desk at home.
I start off by sorting out emails and planning out what I and the team need to do that day. We work with colleagues in India who start work much earlier so often they will have done lots of work before I’ve had my coffee.
My day is a mix of meetings with colleagues and clients, doing design work, doing financial work like checking budgets and doing cost estimates and people management.
When I am at home, I can eat lunch in the garden with my family – my parent is a stay at home parent so they keep me fed and topped up with coffee during the day.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would start a toddler STEM group to get small children interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. I’ve seen examples of other groups which have been very successful.
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Education:
Universities of Warwick (2004-7) and Southampton (2008)
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Qualifications:
10 GCSEs, two AS Levels, three A-Levels, one BEng, a MSc and Chartered Civil Engineer!
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Work History:
I spent two summers with a Railway Engineering firm before joining WSP.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Cyclist Nerd
What did you want to be after you left school?
A Civil Engineer
Were you ever in trouble at school?
No way!
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Nursing
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Red Hot Chili Peppers
What's your favourite food?
Chocolate
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
I wished I had more annual leave, owned more bikes and could engineer food better
Tell us a joke.
Why do they only eat one egg for breakfast in France? Because in France, one egg is an Oeuf!
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