"How did you become an engineer?" Poornima's story

 “Where there’s a will, there’s a way!” It is with this conviction that Poornima Jayamani, application engineer at SICK Linköping, has become the engineer she is today. That deeply held belief supported her in overcoming the obstacles and challenges on the way - from society’s messages that engineering is for men to her father’s not supporting her choice to study abroad.

She joined SICK Linköping in the August 2023, after graduating from her master in biomedical engineering. Today she thrives in her role and is thinking about ways to help other girls get an education that will support their independence.

In this interview, we dive into her journey, her experience of pursuing an engineering education and career, and her advice for girls and women.

Studying engineering

When she was still choosing her path during her studies, Poornima initially thought of becoming a doctor: “I took biology as a subject, and then math, physics, chemistry during my class eleven. But then I started studying the subjects in-depth, and I didn’t like biology as much as I thought compared to math and physics. I looked at the various options and then thought: “Ok, let’s do engineering. “

In her studies, she loved most “the innovation aspect. The problem-solving, creating and developing new things made me follow that career path.“  The difficulties, on the other hand, were the practical aspect of things: “During your school day you don’t have much of that – it’s a lot of reading and theories. But during engineering there were more projects, which was more challenging but very interesting. Challenging but also fun!”

This shift was noticeable she came to Sweden for her master’s degree. “In the Scandinavian education system, it is more practical, with various learning techniques: seminars, workshops, practical labs, etc. In India we also had practical learning and projects, but it was more 20% of it.” Even though it took some time to adjust, it was also enriching: “Learning things differently is fascinating so after a while I got to really enjoy it.”

Being a girl was not such an usual thing during her master program, due to her field of specialization: “I studied biomedical engineering. That is a field that has more women than men. But when I think of engineering overall, of course the ratio is less.“ One thing she observed however in India is that “even though people study engineering, the number of people who practice it after they graduate is fairly low”, in particular for women. 

The problem-solving, creating and developing new things made me follow that career path.

Moving country

Poornima came to Sweden to start her master’s degree in biomedical engineering – and the move thousands of kilometers away from India came with its challenges. Finances were limited in time and there was a lot of uncertainty. Yet, once she made her decision despite her father’s initial reluctance, “magically, things started to work out. Month after month I was able to manage. Even when I thought that there was no money for food, for a place to stay, something would show up and I got some money: a part time job, a freelancing gig, etc.”

She took multiple part-time jobs, several of which were physically demanding. “I always had this thought ingrained in my mind that I look too small, and I wouldn’t manage physically demanding jobs. But because I had no other option, I did it. And that was something that built confidence in me.” One of her main jobs consisted of delivering papers in the night. “You have to go down town, at 2 o’clock in the night, on your cycle. Before coming to Sweden I had never cycled any more than 1km a day! For this job I had to bicycle, pull a trolley with a heavy load – not only paper but sometimes also parcels” As she started listening to podcasts during that time, it got fun – except at times in the winter, in those areas where the snow is not removed… 

One of the successes from her journey is the change she witnesses in her parents. Despite their initial lack of enthusiasm for her decision, they now talk about her as an inspiring example: “My dad is telling his friend’s daughter to study engineering, to study abroad, ‘because Poornima is managing’!”

Graduating during Covid-19

Poornima finished her master’s degree in a less than optimal time. “I graduated in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic. It was bad timing. Job opportunities were frozen.” To expand her skills and get experience, she took on freelancing projects. “After a few months I was working on multiple freelance projects, until I felt that I wanted to find something stable.” As she started looking for opportunities, SICK came back to her mind.

She had indeed heard about SICK from a connection she made back in 2018, when she welcomed a girl who needed an accommodation. “We got connected through Facebook because she wanted a room for a week after her internship.” As it turned out, this person had worked at SICK previously and talked about the great experience she had had.

Fast forward two years later, Poornima did not think of it as an option at first. Her masters’ specialty in biomedical engineering felt far from SICK expertise indeed. But as she started interviewing, her perception changed. “I started understanding how the industry works: I studied image processing applied to biomedical cases. But image processing is the common thing, it is just application that is going to be different. So, I decided to widen my scope. In that process, I came across SICK and the job description for application developer.”

Being an application engineer at SICK

So what does an application engineer do at SICK? In a nutshell, it is about using the general products that SICK develops to tailor them for specific customer needs. There are three main elements to the role: “One is supporting the customer or the sales unit. When the sales unit have customer issues that they do not know how to solve, they send us support ticket questions. Then we either solve it directly, or with the R&D team. Another part is training: we conduct training on our main product, Nova, for our sales units. How to use it, how to solve different applications using it, how to develop custom tools within the software, etc. And the third part is solving applications, supporting the R&D, the product managers, etc. So, it is not a single task but many different things we do every day!”

Does one get bored in that role? “I don’t think so! There are so many things you can learn - the spectrum is so broad. We learn the technical side of course, but also the business aspect.”

Her studies proved totally relevant to the position she now has “when it comes to image processing”, and “from a physics perspective, it helps – though it has been ages since I learnt some concepts, so some relearning is needed sometimes!” Another aspect to consider is that education is not always about the knowledge content, but also how you learn to do something - “Engineering is about doing.”

Engineering is about doing.

Working at SICK

What is it like to work at SICK? “One of my colleagues said: “I come to SICK with a smile on my face everyday, I leave SICK with a smile on my face”. That’s exactly how I feel about SICK too.”

One of the key aspects is that there is always something new to learn: “I am a learner. If you told me to pursue education until I die, I would do it! I started learning a lot here, especially in the practical side, and it is so fascinating to see how things work in the real world.” And another key part of the work environment is the people: “Everyone communicates so well and in a way that is not pressurizing you in the new role. It is helping me to grow professionally and personally.” 

“One of my colleagues said: “I come to SICK with a smile on my face everyday, I leave SICK with a smile on my face”. That’s exactly how I feel about SICK too.”

Choosing a career in STEM

To a girl who considers a career in STEM, but still has doubt, she would recommend to dig deeper in the kind of doubts she might have. “It is about what she wants. If she is really interested in STEM, math, physics, fascinated in engineering, I would encourage her to do it!”  

It is important to challenge the assumption that this path is meant for men. “It is such a tragedy that engineering was shaped for men, or that that was the message. It is not the case! Engineering is for someone who loves science. If you really like science, problem solving, if you are curious about how things in the world work – for instance how my phone works, or how my cycle works – then it’s for you!”

If you really like science, problem solving, if you are curious about how things in the world work ... then [engineering] for you!”

Being a woman in STEM

If there was a message she could share to other women in the field, it would be that: “If there is a will, there is a way. If you want to do it, you will always find a way to do it.”

To young women who graduated in Engineering, she would urge them to pursue their career after they earned their degree. “Don’t stop after university, and don’t stop when there are challenges. When you find challenges, you grow. Don’t take it emotionally but think rationally about how to solve it. Think of it as a stepping stone. Do as many mistakes as you want but always rise. Try to be curious and open to learn new things.“

It is particularly crucial to not let oneself be limited by one’s self-doubts. “It is very common to have self-doubts when you start something new. Especially for women, when you need to fight so many other battles to do something that you love. You might feel exhausted doing the thing that you love sometimes. But that’s ok. Be bold. You’re stronger than you think. Try to just move forward. Don’t doubt yourself. You will find things along the way. It’s all about the process, not about the result anyways. And there is no timeline. If you want to go to engineering in your 40s, you can do it.”

Be bold. You’re stronger than you think.

Vision for the future - supporting girls who want to pursue an education

What about the future? Poornima’s long-term goals now is to be able to support other girls who want to pursue a degree. “There are people who are good but cannot afford to do an engineering degree - or any degree. My goal would be to start an NGO for women to help them get an education and employment opportunities. The idea would be to start it in India, in my hometown of Coimbatore. That is like a long, long, long term goal.”

That goal is rooted in reflecting upon her own journey. “I am here because I got the education I got. Otherwise, I would not be here, in a new country, managing things on my own. It is because of the education and the loan I got for that education. I feel I should put it in use for people who really need this. I really, really believe that a lot of things still need to be done, especially in developing countries, for women empowerment. Because women are still going through a lot of things that they shouldn’t. This would change if they could get an education and be financially free. That would make their life better. That is what happened to me and what did not happen to my mom. So that is my life’s mission. “

Women are still going through a lot of things that they shouldn’t. This would change if they could get an education and be financially free.