Three women at Leonardo share their unconventional journeys into STEM, and why diversity is shaping the future of tech.
The path into STEM isn't always linear. Sometimes it starts with hacking your dad's laptop at age 11, pivoting from journalism dreams, or moving countries as a teenager. In our latest DevLab podcast episode, we heard from three women at Leonardo who prove that there's no "right way" into engineering and tech careers.
Kristy Ireland grew up surrounded by aviation in Prestwick, Scotland, but initially wanted to work in media and journalism. After deciding to study aeronautical engineering at the University of Glasgow as a backup plan for her pilot dreams, she graduated straight into 2020's chaos.
"I graduated in 2020, which was, you know, a very famous year in all our calendars. So that was interesting, trying to navigate coming out of university into Covid," Kristy reflects.
She's now a senior systems engineer working in Leonardo’s Future Combat Air Systems team, focusing on the Excalibur flight test aircraft, one of the biggest flying demonstrators in the UK, and helping test sensor technology designed to be integrated into the UK’s next-generation fighter jet.
Her biggest takeaway? "You don't need to know exactly what role you want as soon as you leave university and school."
Henrietta Heggedus moved from Hungary to the UK at 14, facing the challenge of adapting to a new culture. Her engineering passion ignited during mandatory work experience through a family friend.
"One thing that really stuck with me is how proud people were talking about their own jobs, that they were making something in the aerospace industry. And I thought that's somewhere I wanted to be," she explains.
Taking the apprenticeship route, she's now a manufacturing engineer at Leonardo, supporting the development of dynamic composite components for helicopters. Her journey highlights an important truth: "Not everyone has to follow the same path. There’s the traditional route, the non-traditional route. It doesn’t matter."
Lila Rose's path might be the most unexpected. After figuring out how to hack into her dad's laptop at 11 and attempting to learn Python in year nine "because I thought it'd be really cool to be a hacker," she ended up studying psychology at the University of Glasgow.
It was statistics and R programming during her psychology degree that reignited her tech passion. Now lead data scientist in Leonardo's cyber business, she taught herself Python and JavaScript through Free Code Camp and YouTube videos.
"My biggest recommendation is to start with the fundamentals. Python is the easiest language to learn," she advises aspiring data scientists.
All three women emphasised the critical importance of representation in STEM fields. As Kristy puts it: "I'll say the cheesy quote, you can't be what you can't see, but that really resonates with me because I couldn't see a lot of it when I was younger."
Lila experienced this firsthand: "I even remember my friend's dad who worked in IT, when he saw me trying to learn Python, telling me it wasn't for girls, which had a massive impact on me."
Kristy openly discusses her daily battle with imposter syndrome: "I get imposter syndrome pretty much every day... and the more I talk to people, the more I realise it's something most of us deal with – even the people you'd never expect."
Her solution? Creating more open conversations about it. "We should talk about it more often because I do believe it would unlock a lot more potential within people, including myself."
When it comes to AI fears, Lila has a refreshingly practical perspective: "People shouldn’t be afraid of AI. If anything, it takes care of the boring, time-consuming tasks so you can focus on the fun parts."
She predicts the biggest breakthrough will come through large language vision models heading toward artificial general intelligence, fundamentally changing how we work rather than replacing us entirely.
Kristy sees the industry moving toward "solutions that are more adaptable and have the biggest benefit around utilisation and availability" with increased use of AI, machine learning, and autonomous systems. She's working on the Excalibur flight test aircraft, "one of the biggest flying demonstrators in the UK."
The impact? "It will create jobs that do not exist today... keep an eye on the trends, what's coming in, what's being created, where the innovation is sitting and make sure you're aligned with it."
Leonardo’s commitment to career growth, learning and inclusion came through loud and clear. Whether it’s access to self-led learning tools, hands-on leadership programmes or the ability to move across teams and projects, Kristy, Henrietta and Lila all spoke about how the company supports people to grow, not just fill a role.
That support includes dedicated development initiatives like Springboard, a programme designed to build confidence and assertiveness for women; Navigator, a personal and professional growth track for men; and Succeed to Lead, a two-year leadership programme for emerging leaders. Employees also have access to a wide range of internal and external learning resources to support continuous development.
And in 2025, Leonardo was named in three UK Best Places to Work lists, further proof of the company’s continued investment in its people.
Their collective advice boils down to a few key points:
Be curious and ask questions. As Kristy emphasises: "No question is a silly question. That is what I want hanging on my wall, embroidered on a pillow."
Get hands-on experience early. Henrietta's work experience changed her life trajectory, and she advocates for STEM clubs, taster events, and competitions.
Don't be afraid to pivot. Lila reminds us: "Just because you start doing something doesn't mean that you have to do it forever."
It's never too late. As Lila notes: "You might be 30 or 40 even and decide that you actually want to switch to a tech career or an engineering career... It's never too late to start."
The tech and engineering world needs diverse perspectives, unconventional thinking, and people who aren't afraid to ask "why do we do it this way?" These three women prove that the best innovations often come from the most unexpected journeys.
Want to hear Henrietta, Kristy, and Lila tell the story in their own words? We get into all of the above (and more) in this episode of DevLab. Hit play below to watch the full interview.
If you’d like to join the team at Leonardo, set up your free hackajob profile. As a reverse marketplace, hackajob puts you in control—accept or decline requests from employers based on what interests you most.
Read more about Leonardo here.
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