Alongside her high-powered job, 25-year-old Juliette is strongly committed to spreading awareness among young people about the engineering profession and the science behind it. She told us what drives her and how she got here.
Juliette acknowledges that she grew up in “an expat world”. She was born in Japan, went to school in Hong Kong from the age of 11, sat her baccalaureate exams there, then followed a preparatory class in Paris before studying at Grenoble INP - Ense³, UGA.
Armed with a master’s degree, she soon felt the need to experience once again the “fabulous adventure of living abroad” and found herself on the Hinkley Point C construction site in an international volunteering position with EDF, where she was later recruited.
Hinkley Point C is the third EPR (European Pressurized Reactor) site. The construction work began in 2018 and is due for completion in 2030. Its aim is to supply power to 6 million Welsh homes and thus contribute to the country’s energy decarbonisation effort.
As a general installation engineer who has worked at the site for 2 years now, Juliette is a member of the power station’s design team, working on-site to respond to subcontractor issues.
Her task is to handle discrepancies between the initial design and the actual construction. Impact studies are carried out and she then gives her opinion on whether on-site repairs or adjustments are required, or whether the initial design needs to be modified. “In a way, we provide the EPR after-sales service.”
Her task and her devotion to recruiting young talents have got her noticed by her superiors and she was one of 2 employees to represent EDF at the Net Zero Nuclear event in New York which attracted the world’s leading nuclear energy players and major financers. “I was amazed to be invited, there were European ministers and an advisor to Joe Biden!”
Although she now works on the other side of the Channel and has rubbed shoulders with prestigious personalities in New York, Juliette hasn’t forgotten her school. “I instantly connected with the strong values of the school and its management team. I was fascinated by the commitment of the faculty, despite the distance teaching due to Covid! And the students are strongly committed to the school’s abundance of initiatives and associations, all keen to play a part in changing the world. Overall, my training provided me with a whole range of tools for my career in engineering. But beyond that, we also learned about the history of energy and the geopolitics of the nuclear sector.”
As her career kicks off, Juliette is also very much involved in making science and engineering more appealing to upcoming talents, especially girls.
“I learnt so much from my mentors, especially the teachers. It’s a life-changing experience for youngsters and we must fire their imaginations to attract them to engineering school.” Her turning point came when she met the teams of the Tara Ocean Foundation. “Something clicked. It’s important to explain to youngsters that maths and physics don't have to be scary.”
Which is why Juliette took part in the “Fem’Energia” competition organised by EDF and Women in Nuclear. She and her colleagues won a special jury prize for their outreach video. This gave her an opportunity to get to know her female colleagues a little better, as “there aren’t many of us, especially on the construction site. At work we stick together, there’s no rivalry”.
Juliette regularly joins forces with the Elles Bougent association, helping to spread awareness among high-school students. She draws on her own experience to try to “instil enthusiasm and boost their confidence”.
Juliette makes similar contributions alongside the CGénial Foundation whose mission is to promote science and technology, and their various specialisms in the world of work. “Science opens many doors. We have to show youngsters, girls especially, the role they can play in this world and the tangible outcomes that an engineer can achieve.”
What a career and what commitment! Bravo!
