Julia Dickinson is not a rocket scientist. If you had to give her maddeningly difficult job a name, it might be spacecraft engineer, or satellite engineer – even a managing spacecraft systems architect, if you will.
She is the leader of a group of scientists, engineers and ground staff that have been working for years to deliver broadband internet to the entirety of Australia. She designs the crafts, builds them, tests them and then sends them into space.
So you can see how it would be tempting to call her a rocket scientist. But, for the sake of clarity, let’s stick with ‘spacecraft engineer’.
Julia’s journey into the world of building spacecrafts started young. If you were to look into the childhood bedroom of a young Julia, you might see scrapbooks filled with newspaper cut outs of the launches of rockets, shuttles and rovers, or pictures of Sally Ride becoming the first American woman to travel into space.
It was, for Julia, an easy decision to take her interest in space and engineering and channel it into a career. In her own words, it was her “ideal position”.
So, when Julia was working as an electrical engineer, her transition into spacecraft building was a natural progression. She was offered a scholarship to a space course, where the engineering program caught her eye, and the rest is history.
Julia is now working as the Space Systems Managing Architect at the National Broadband Network, leading her hand-picked team to make broadband internet access available to rural country areas.
But it isn’t an easy job by any means. Julia’s day starts and ends with writing emails to ground stations and gateways all around the globe, and usually middles around 10 hours a day, not including getting her son to and from school every day.
It’s a work load that never stops. From late night international calls, to early morning starts, Julia work life could best be described as “difficult”. She often has to compromise on her social life, or taking her son to school.
“It takes a village to raise a child,” she says, “We have someone who helps with my son.”
But even though it can be difficult, Julia wouldn’t give her position up. She’s a leader in her field, and one of the only women to do it.
Not surprisingly, the spacecraft engineering field isn’t a typically female associated role. For a long time, it’s been a boy’s only club – much like many of the maths and sciences careers. According to a 2014 census, women only make up around 10% of engineering positions, and that statistic shrinks when you move up into the spacecraft field.
“The numbers [of women] still aren’t as high as they should be in engineering,” says Julia, “It’s something I’d like to see increased. There’s a lot less women in engineering than there could be.”
This, she says, has a lot to do with the fact that people still associate science-based careers like engineering with male dominance.
“You hear the word ‘doctor’ and you assume it’s a man,” she elaborates, “You hear the word ‘engineer’ and you assume it’s a man.”
But that’s set to change. Julia firmly believes that women in engineering are on the rise.
“It’s not completely gone,” she says of the engineering boy’s club, “But it is improving. It is getting better.”
Part of that, is Julia’s own involvement. As a leader in her field, and an advocate for women in engineering, she hopes that more young girls and women will start pursuing their interest in science, rather than being intimidated by the tag.
Julia’s father was an engineer, so she never had the experience of someone telling her that she couldn’t do it, or that it was a boy’s thing. But in going to university and entering into the work force, Julia witnessed the unconscious discouragement we give young girls interested in science.
But that shouldn’t dissuade them, she says. It should encourage them.
“I had the boys in maths and science classes going ‘You have to beat Julia, she’s only a girl’,” she laughs, “But they didn’t. And I was happy to beat them.”
Her advice for young girls interested in science, however, is more about support networking and banding together.
“Pull your heads in,” she jokes, but then turns serious, “Find other women to support you, to network with, and be mentored by.”
Female role models, it seems, are the key for Julia.
“It’s really important to feel you’re not on your own.”
“It’s important to support other women if they’re not being heard,” she reiterates, “Stand up and say ‘I want to hear what she has to say’.”
But most of all, her philosophy is to put the work in.
“Work hard, your quality of work will speak for itself, enjoy what you do, and ‘lean in’, as Sheryl Sandberg puts it. Be prepared to take some risks and make mistakes, that’s how you learn.”
And from there, the sky’s the limit. Or rather, space is.
