Amira Tamam

To celebrate International Women's Day we spoke to Amira Tanam, a mechatronics engineer leading a team in mechanical design for the chemical, pharmaceutical & associated processing industries, who graduated from USW with a MSc Engineering Management. 

Hi Amira! Please tell a bit about yourself.

I am extremely passionate about engineering, & I am constantly working on contributing to the engineering community. I am an active volunteer with the IMechE since 2016, a past Greater Manchester Young Members Panel Chairperson, a current member of the Process Industries Division, an educational consultant for InvestIN, and an active volunteer with Formula Student.  A STEM ambassador contributed to my inspiration of becoming an engineer, & this has motivated me to become a certified STEM ambassador myself. I aspire to become what inspired me to go into engineering.

Can you share your professional journey with us?

I couldn't afford to continue higher education after I graduated, so I went directly into industry planning to one day go back into education & gain a Master's degree. After two years at Electrocraft as a Mechanical Engineer, & one year in my new role, I found an ad in primary engineer that said I can get a Fast Track Master's from USW, & I thought it's too good to be true. So I applied, and it was even better than I thought. I was assessed based on my knowledge & experience & I was eligible for the course.

Being able to do a fast track masters helped me keep my full time job & finish my master's in one year. Even better, my dissertation  was a consultation to my company, which was a requirement from the course, so writing my dissertation made so much more sense, because it was all from practical knowledge & research from my role. Currently, I lead the design engineering team at Corrosion Resistant Products who are a global leader in the manufacturing and distribution of fluoropolymer lined piping, fittings, valves, sampling systems & other associated equipment. 

How can we encourage the next generation of women in STEM to break the bias?

By spreading awareness of the various different opportunities in STEM showing there is a place for every personality & interest, & showcasing role models. Knowledge is key to breaking bias.

How do you manage self-doubt?

"Fake it until you make it" I try to accept that having self-doubt is a normal human thing to have, & I push myself until I am comfortable again, & I always try to remember that being an expert doesn't mean knowing everything there is about a subject, but understanding where to gather knowledge when I don't know something, & being able to comprehend and implement it where it's needed. 

What advice would you give to other women leaders about managing a team?

Normalise being a woman in your industry, & the rest will follow. Don't forget that the women before you worked hard so you can be in that position, your experience, positive or negative, will do the same for generations to follow.