Giving back to the STEM community
Sue Openshaw is an IET fellow and volunteer with over 30 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry. She began volunteering with us back in 2018, starting her journey as a mentor. This was a role she found incredibly rewarding as she could use her experience to guide early-career individuals.
“Recently, one of the first people I mentored received his IEng. Seeing him go from a graduate straight out of university to becoming professionally registered is very rewarding, and why it’s important we use our learnings as experienced engineers to help guide others starting out,” Sue says, as we kick off our conversation.
But it was an email from us about our education initiative FIRST® LEGO® League that took her volunteering in a new direction. As a mother of LEGO loving sons, she was intrigued and decided to apply. After attending a general volunteer session to find out more, she attended her first event, which turned out to be the final, where she was assigned to the LEGO wall.
The friendly atmosphere and the enthusiasm of everyone involved is what made the experience so brilliant. The event was just after the pandemic and Sue had the challenge of keeping everyone organised and ensuring hygiene and safety. Her experience encouraged her to continue her involvement – but this time get closer to the actual competition! She underwent volunteer training and started refereeing at regional events. After two years, she took the leap to referee at the final, which she describes as an “unbelievable difference”.
As a referee at the final, Sue scored teams on how well they performed in their attempts to navigate models around a course. She also evaluated the long-term projects that schools had carried out throughout the year. These initiatives focus on team building, investigation and collaboration, and the highlight is always interacting with the teams, whether they’re celebrating a win or dealing with disappointment. “It’s really nice to see them get enthusiastic about STEM and it’s amazing what they come up with. It was an intense but really rewarding day.”
For Sue, volunteering for us is about giving back and supporting others in their roles. She enjoys the friendship and atmosphere among the community of volunteers, stating she’s yet to meet a “grumpy volunteer”! The meals held the night before events are a highlight for her as well, and she loves that it’s a small celebration of those who have dedicated their time and effort over the years. “A lot of the IET volunteers that I’ve come to know have grown up taking part in FIRST® LEGO® League and have taken on a volunteer role to stay engaged,” she says positively.
Volunteering has also opened up networking opportunities for Sue. She’s been able to connect with various individuals and learn about different career paths, as well as advance her own career through connecting with likeminded people and engineers at these events.
And she wholeheartedly believes education initiatives are crucial in helping children understand what engineering is all about. “We need to get young people interacting and understanding the different types of engineering that are out there, without it getting too stuffy.”
Sue’s volunteering experience has been made so enjoyable due to the team around her, and she particularly appreciates how meaningful it is. “It’s about giving back and helping people. I plan to continue volunteering, perhaps going into the Professional Registration interviews when I retire. There’s plenty out there in STEM – you just have to go and find what you are interested in!”
