You wouldn't think that reading about airbag design at school would stir the passion for career choices of a young student.

However, for Georgia Paraskevopoulos, a tale of the world's first airbag helped convince her that a career in engineering was for her.

"I read a case study when I was in high school about the first airbag design and how the initial design team was composed of all men," Georgia said.

"This meant the design and construction was all done based on the male body. Consequently, when introduced to the market and tested on women, there were major flaws and safety issues."

The story wasn't the only factor to encourage Georgia into this career, it did however solidify in her mind the importance of greater representation of women in the field. 

"Evidently this is just one of many examples to encourage women to pursue engineering," Georgia said.

Engineering requires a diverse set of minds to solve problems and to drive innovations.

Women in engineering 

"It's so rewarding achieving career goals in an industry that's traditionally deemed as a male industry," she says. 

Georgia grew up in a construction family, so spending her day around building was a natural part of her life from a young age. 

"My main inspiration was my grandfather," Georgia said. 

"I remember him teaching me the importance of concrete mix ratios and the perfect consistency while he built our family house.

"As I got older and entered high school, I found a love for mathematics and design classes. After doing some research on university courses, it was clear that engineering was a career that was going to allow me to practice my passions daily."

Having joined our Telecommunications business in 2019, Georgia works as a junior engineer on the Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) Sydney Metro Team, meaning she is helping to deliver nbn to the people of metropolitan Sydney — a role she is relishing. 

"On a day-to-day basis, engineering requires critical thinking, it's very rare to have any two days the same," Georgia said.

"This means you need to adapt to the new tasks at hand while working to meet deadlines and milestones.

Telecommunications is definitely a rewarding industry for an engineer as the technology is always changing.

"This is one of the things I love in the industry as there's always new or improved methods, equipment and processes which require learning and understanding to implement," she added.