"Systems Engineering is ideal for someone who likes to be challenged and enjoys ‘outside-of-the-box’ thinking."
I’m Safiyyah and I joined WSP in August 2021. I am a part of the Systems Engineering and Integration (SEIA) team within the Rail department. My role as a systems engineer is to facilitate rail projects through a structured process that leads and guides a concept through its lifecycle. It begins with an idea and ends with an operating railway that fulfils our day-today transport needs.
As a Systems Engineer, I am currently working as part of the HS2 interface management team. I support users and aid in the configuration of a tool that is being used to manage the Rail Systems interfaces. It has helped me build up my skills and knowledge of the rail industry tremendously.
Alongside my client role, I am also a part time Project Manager for the Park Signalling project, where I monitor the finances of the project which is helping me build up a better understanding of the business and how it works. In conjunction with project roles, I am also Manchester’s SEIA Social and Diversity and Inclusion Representative.
These roles have given me the responsibility to organise social activities for my team and assist in coming up with a rigid strategy to enable our growing team to be more inclusive. This is all within a very short time of being here, so I can safely say no day has ever been the same. I am very grateful for the opportunities I have been given.
The experience I am getting across the variety of roles has given me a great sense of achievement and is swiftly helping me progress towards my IMechE chartership. I am always happy to come to work and feel content knowing that I have a great support network in place to help me along the way.
Systems Engineering is ideal for someone who likes to be challenged and enjoys ‘outside-of-the-box’ thinking. For rail, the scope of work is extremely broad. So, there is work on both a national and international level.
A few examples of the projects we are working on:
In systems, no project is ever the same! Every given role is different to the next, so there is always scope for progression and learning.
