Trainee engineers have been celebrating British Science Week and showing how important their skills are to the Royal Navy.
HMS Sultan, in Gosport near Portsmouth, is home to both the navy’s Air Engineering and Survival Equipment School and the Defence School of Marine Engineering.
Once personnel have completed their Phase One training at HMS Raleigh (where they go from civilians to sailors), they then head to their Phase Two training which for engineering roles is Sultan.
And this training has recently received a boost with an upgrade of equipment to give the engineers a better understanding of the technology they will be using on warships while on operations.
The Controls Automation Team within the Defence School of Marine Engineering have been able to update their IT equipment, giving an improved sense of what it takes to diagnose and solve engineering issues on board a ship.
Controls and Diagnostics Specialist Instructor Stuart Sharp said: “The upgrade offers a significant improvement, it’s much faster and more compact and also offers us with the ability to adapt the scenarios that trainees will work through.”
As well as marking British Science Week, HMS Sultan has also highlighted Women’s History Month, running this month, and its commitment to ensuring an inclusive environment for all its trainees.
Trainee Air Engineering Technician Danielle Beckinsale said: “I’d not done any engineering before joining the Royal Navy, but I thought I’d give it a go and it’s been good so far.
“Although I’m the only woman in my class, I’ve never felt any different to my classmates and I’ve still been able to make friends with lots of other girls who are in training.”
Probationary Leading Air Engineering Technician Janine Fergus added: “I’ve always been interested in science and engineering as they appeal to my inquisitive mind.
“I studied STEM subjects at college and gained an Oceanography degree before joining the Royal Navy and I’m really enjoying the hands-on aspect of the training I’m undertaking now.
“In all my studies and throughout my career, I’ve never felt that being a woman has been a barrier. It doesn’t matter if you’re a woman, if you’re motivated to do a job and do it well then you can do it.”
