New Zealand Science Teacher

Designing underwater spaceships

13/06/2016

When still just a girl, Lucy Collins had her dreams dashed when someone told her that you have to be a US resident to be an astronaut. She had to settle instead for designing ‘spacecraft’ for that other largely unexplored realm - the oceans.

Lucy is now a naval architect for the UK’s Ministry of Defense, and in July will be one of the role models hoping to inspire Kiwi girls to assume no limitations, when she speaks at the New Zealand International Science Festival, to be held this year in Dunedin between 8 and 16 July.

A specialist in submarine design, Lucy works at the University College in London, and is currently finishing up a PhD while helping run the world’s only submarine design programme of study.

"Submarine design is very challenging - they have to operate silently, make their own water and atmosphere, have the strength to dive hundreds of metres under the sea and protect the lives of the people who serve on them," she told the Weekend Herald.

"And, to add to this, the main difference between a submarine and almost any other marine vessel is the one thing that adds the greatest complexity - a submarine has to be neutrally buoyant, this means it doesn't sink and it doesn't float."

She said her career highlight so far had been spending seven nights aboard a Trafalgar Class Submarine while training in what is a civilian branch of the Royal Navy.

"I was the only female on board, among 125 men, and at that time the Royal Navy didn't have any commissioned female submarines so I felt very privileged."

Advocating girls in STEM

Lucy is also chair of the UK’s Women In Science and Engineering's Young Women's Board. As such she’s obviously passionate about encouraging more women to carry on with STEM study, and become professionals in the science and engineering realms.

"Stem subjects influence every aspect of our lives and a job in Stem can help to change the world."

Having passion, she said, was the advice she gave to anyone wanting to follow a path similar to her own.

"In my experience, you achieve the most when you are doing what you love and ... when you have passion and share it with others, it rubs off," she said.

"There is not much that can stop you from becoming an engineer ... and you don't have to be a maths or physics whiz.

This article quotes a story originally appearing on nzherald.co.nz

"What will make you a successful engineer are the skills you start developing in school; communicating with others, working in a team and being interested in the world around you."