Amelia Gould CEng FIET
Amelia has always relished a challenge, from joining the Royal Navy to being part of an innovative start up business, now she has put her focus into being a Fellow of the IET and a role model to others.
The journey so far
Amelia Gould is currently Managing Director for Helsing UK, a defence software and AI company.
“There is no typical working day in a start-up! The days are a blend of external meetings with customers and partners and internal meetings with the product and engineering teams.”
Prior to working for Helsing, Amelia had been part of BAE Systems for nearly 10 years taking on various roles including Head of Engineering and Combat Systems Portfolio Director. However, Amelia’s journey actually began in the Armed Forces.
“I started my career in the Royal Navy as an Engineering Officer and served for 11 years at sea and ashore. From there I spent five years as an Enterprise Architect, working with public and private sector organisations helping them to embrace new technologies and deliver digital transformation before moving to BAE Systems for stability.”
This path to success started from Amelia’s school days when she found a love of science and space before transitioning into engineering.
“I had a brilliant Physics teacher who nurtured this passion and helped me do an extra GCSE in Astronomy. I wanted to become an astrophysicist and work in the space sector, but that was a fairly small sector in the UK at the time and there weren’t many jobs, so I ended up following my father’s advice and doing an engineering degree. Sponsorship from the Royal Navy through university helped give me some hands-on experience with engineering at sea – and I was hooked!”
Thinking about her next steps, Amelia is fully committed to Helsing and has found a company where she believes in their mission and wants to focus on ensuring success for years and decades to come.
Why Fellowship?
With a dynamic and prosperous career history, Amelia realised that she had the experience and knowledge needed to apply for IET Fellowship and get the recognition she deserved.
“I found out about Fellowship through my company at the time, BAE Systems, that had a mentoring scheme to help people through the application process. I wanted the recognition of my professional experience and knowledge and to be able to support others in their engineering careers.”
Supporting others and raising the profile of the engineering profession are key building blocks for IET Fellows and Amelia has already begun her journey of nurturing the next generation of STEM professionals.
“I mentor a number of people at various stages of their career and have volunteered for several STEM charities by leading events at schools and facilitating workshops. I was also on the Solent LEP Skills Advisory Panel, and now I am a Non-Executive Director of the Maritime UK Solent Board, representing industry and promoting local skills and prosperity.”
After being awarded IET Fellowship Amelia has reflected on the process of putting together an application and how her Fellowship journey enabled her to see how far she had come in her career.
“I found it daunting at first as it was difficult to try to summarise my engineering career in a form, but my mentor really helped me through the process. It is a great honour and I think being a Fellow goes some way to help make the distinction on where I am in my career and the contribution I have made to the engineering profession.”
Next steps
Even with her status as an IET Fellow secured and working at a company where she can truly make a difference, Amelia’s engineering journey is far from over and along with keeping up to date with market technology and trends she also wants to keep giving back to others while moving forward herself.
“I would like to continue to act as a role model for others looking to go into engineering, particularly for young girls. I will continue working closely with charities and schools in my local community to help children understand the huge range of career options available to them.”
With her vast experience of helping others we asked Amelia if she would have any advice for those starting their career in STEM or even thinking of applying for Fellowship. She said: “Take every chance you are given to grow and develop. Be curious, explore things you don’t understand and ask lots of questions!”