MEMBER PROFILE

Lesley Wray MSc PhD MIED

Lesley Wray in 2020

Receiving her PhD from Betty Boothroyd, chancellor of the Open University Thanks on retirement Celebrating the publication of her book on local history

A MEMBER OF THE IED for more than 30 years, Lesley Wray grew up on a new council estate during the 1950s. ‘I went to an overcrowded primary school – my class was one of the smaller ones, with 47 pupils,’ she says. Despite the challenges she faced, she passed the 11 Plus and went on to attend the local grammar school.

However, when it came to choosing a career, she discovered that, far from encouraging her to follow her dream of becoming a draughtsman, all the school could suggest was that she become a teacher, social worker or go into the civil service. ‘Luckily, the male careers officer helped,’ she says. ‘He explained that I was unlikely to get into engineering, but helped me to apply to the Ministry of Public Building and Works, which accepted me as a student architectural assistant.’

And so, in 1965, Lesley’s career began. Her training as an architectural assistant provided her with draughting skills that she then developed in a series of different jobs outside the civil service. ‘I tried cartographic and hydrographic draughting, and took every available opportunity to expand my knowledge,’ she says.

Eventually, some seven years later, still before the Sex Discrimination Act had come into force, she got a job as a draughting assistant in a local engineering company. ‘The chief draughtsman trained me well and encouraged me to learn as much as I could,’ she says. ‘He helped me to move on to other companies, all the time expanding my experience and knowledge. In those days, there was no such thing as a career plan or continued professional development – your career was in your own hands and experience and capability counted far more then qualifications.’

As a young woman, Lesley’s career often took second place to her family commitments. In late 1980, her husband changed jobs, which involved a move to the West Country, where she joined the Westland Helicopter Group as a design engineer. ‘I worked in various parts of the company, always in a similar role but learning about the many different specialist areas involved in aerospace design,’ she says.

While her practical knowledge was gained on the job, she also undertook academic studies through the Open University, eventually becoming a senior design engineer specialising in helicopter flight controls. ‘I might have made the final step to principal engineer,’ she says, ‘but I had to take 11 months off sick to conquer cancer. The only time I ever broke down in the office was when I returned and was greeted with a huge bouquet of flowers from the men with whom I worked.’

Having retired 12 years ago at the age of 60, Lesley would recommend a career in engineering design to anyone with an interest in solving problems, regardless of their gender. When it came to problems with her career, the only ones she ever encountered were from people outside the industry who assumed that there would be a lot of discrimination. ‘Teachers were particularly bad,’ she says. ‘One even went so far as to tell me that I must have suffered discrimination in engineering, and if I hadn’t noticed it, I should be ashamed.

‘We need young people to become engineering designers,’ she continues. ‘Their visions of the future, their familiarity with new technologies, and their enthusiasm for solving the problems previous generations have caused is our best hope for the human race to continue to have a wonderful, diverse planet to inhabit.’ ■

‘In those days, there was no such thing as a career plan or continued professional development –your career was in your own hands and experience and capability counted far more then qualifications’