We need more women in this industry

FVB is looking to improve in several different areas and there are lots of good reasons to work for us. Like many other employers in technology, the number of female applicants is low, which is too bad, because engineering can be an interesting an enriching career.

We wanted to let a few of our female employees speak about what it is like to work with us and talk about what drew them to the technical industry. In this issue of the FVB Newsletter, we start with Malin.

Malin Norstedt is 26 years old and has been working as an energy consultant at FVB in Linköping for the past year. She studied engineering at university, specializing in energy technology. Here she talks about her background and her current job.

 “I knew early on that I wanted to be a civil engineer, but not much more than that. I’ve always been interested in how things work and always thought numbers were fun. We’re all affected by technology, so I think most people think it’s fun or interesting even if they don’t think about it.”

“My work mostly relates to the field of district heating distribution. I design distribution lines for district heating, which partly means securing the line position and making sure it is structurally possible to construct the pipeline in a certain way. Ultimately, a drawing document is produced.”

“Projects can vary in both content and size and often consist of different elements, which means my days at FVB are never the same and I’m always learning new things. Having the opportunity to develop in my professional role is important and FVB gives me that opportunity. For one thing, I have the opportunity to influence the content of my work and what I want to learn more about.”

“Different collaborations are another thing that creates the conditions for development. Most things are based around collaboration, whether it’s working with colleagues here at the office, asking other colleagues in the company for advice, working together on projects, having contact with customers, or collaborating with other parties involved in the projects.

Something I really value is the atmosphere at the office. There is always an open dialogue and we treat each other with respect. We have a good group dynamic; we have fun together and don’t complicate things unnecessarily. It makes life easier.

I’ve always studied or worked in groups that have consisted mostly of men, so this isn’t even something I think about here.

But obviously a mixture of different people is good,” Malin concludes.