The engineering student14 May 2013
Kristina Kerwin, 32, is a mature student at South Thames College, London, studying an EAL diploma in electrical and electronic engineering. Having spent most of her working life as a receptionist or administrator, Kristina is changing track and seeking an engineering career in the renewable energy sector. She moved to the UK from Latvia at the age of 18. She now lives in Balham, south London, with her husband Ben and 3-year-old daughter Layla.
Why did you decide to get into engineering?
Once my child was born I started thinking of her future, and what I could do to make the world a better place. I am quite good at fixing things, so engineering was a natural choice.
When representatives from South Thames College came round to the children's centre I was involved in before my little one started nursery, I asked them if I was qualified enough to go into engineering with just a GCSE level education. The alternative energy sector was my first choice, aviation second. They said, "why don't you do electrical electronics?", and that's how I came to get started.
Why do you support Friends of the Earth's Clean British Energy campaign?
Britain's carbon emissions are enormous but the Government doesn't seem to be doing enough to promote clean energy. For instance, a lot more can be done to reduce the carbon footprint of housing estates. They could install solar panels and little wind turbines to generate power to keep the lighting on. If it's not sunny, it's windy. Clean energy is available all the time.
Why should the Government set a clean power target?
I think the Government should have a clear target, a deadline, by which time they should have installed all the measures we need. A target would create more and more jobs in the sector.
Some people think alternative energy is expensive and not very efficient. I lived up in the Midlands and heard people saying wind turbines are not very sightly. But actually we are saving money with them, and saving the planet.
From my point of view, it's all about the future of our children. Once you have kids, you live for their future rather than for yourself. We need to leave this planet in a better state than we're doing at the moment.
What does your daughter think of what you're doing?
She calls me Tinker Bell, like the Disney cartoon character who fixes everything and makes things. It's brilliant because it shows a female doing jobs which are mainly male-dominated. My daughter looks at my toolboxes, picks up little screwdrivers and says, "Mummy, can I play with it?". But she's only 3 so I don't think she completely understands.
What's the next step for your career?
I want to take BTEC Level 3 in electronic engineering from September and go on to study electronics and science at university.
After that I'd like to work on the kinds of projects you see in New Scientist, creating new forms of power generation. Solar, wind, they're kind of well known. I'm more interested in new inventions, often things that need funding. There's nothing more exciting than coming up with ideas, getting a group of engineers together, and saying "let's try and do it, let's make it happen".
That's the attitude I think we need for the future.
Feeling inspired? If you want to see more clean British energy, ask your MP to support a clean power target now.
© Kristina Kerwin
