CARDIFF LIVES Meet head Dyson engineer Lucy Richardson

LUCY RICHARDSON The Dyson engineer, who’s from Cardiff, is the brains behind many of today’s household appliances. Here she tells us why her job has endless possibilities...

At Dyson, Lucy leads a team of noise and vibration engineer specialists; she is one of the engineers behind the revolutionary Supersonic hairdryer and was involved in inventing quiet, bladeless fans. Here she speaks to us as part of the This is Engineering Campaign created by the Royal Academy of Engineering which aims to bring the career to life for young people and highlight how engineering is making a difference, despite it being one of the most misunderstood jobs in the country.

At Dyson, you’re the brains behind many of today’s household appliances. What’s your role exactly? I manage a team of acoustics and vibration engineers. We come up with ingenious ways of making products quiet without compromising on their performance. My personal favourites are the Airwrap hair styler, the new 9kJ hand dryer and the Pure Cool Me fan. For each of these products we engineered bespoke silencers to absorb and control noise they make.

Why is it important for businesses to employ female engineers? It’s important to have female engineers in all sectors, but especially so in product design. The way we use and experience products is so personal, it’s important we have a diverse team developing them. I’m lucky in that Dyson really acknowledges this and are paving the way to improve the gender split for future generations.

“It’s important to have female engineers; the way we use and experience products is so personal”

How would you ‘sell’ engineering as a job? It’s brilliant for anyone with a creative imagination, who has a passion for solving problems and creating new things. With endless possibilities, it’s a job you can never get bored of doing.

What are your hobbies and passions? I’m a keen violinist, and I am also a ballet dancer. I love to bake and have recently taken up sewing too.

What are your memories of growing up in Cardiff? I’m from Lakeside, and most of my memories revolve around residential orchestra courses and concerts in and around Cardiff with what are now life-long friends. Music played a big part of my childhood.

Favourite places/views in the city? I can’t pick just one; it’s a tie between Roath Park lake and the Wales Millennium Centre. It took me moving away from Cardiff – to work at Dyson in Wiltshire – to really appreciate quite how lucky I was to grow up just 10 minutes’ walk from Roath Park lake, and the WMC always fascinates me with its impressive architecture and interesting acoustic features. I’ve got some great memories performing on various stages there too so it’s extra special for me.

What jobs did you have when you lived here? Mostly playing the violin as part of wedding quartets and at functions. Before I joined Dyson, I was also a violin teacher.

Tell us a fond memory from your life… A few years ago, James Dyson challenged us to create some musical instruments out of Dyson machines. My team and I had great fun creating our own violin out of bits of a hand dryer and vacuum cleaner. It was certainly an unusual day in the office to stand on stage and perform to James himself, along with a room full of colleagues. n

www.dyson.co.uk; www.thisisengineering.org.uk