Profile
Audrey Rago
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About Me:
I live in London, but I am originally from Boston, USA. I am a Sustainability Engineer, so I spend most weekdays at a manufacturing plant, and in the evenings I love to dance (I’m currently learning Salsa), read, and spend time with friends. On the weekends I like to get outside, whether it’s cycling, walking or jogging, and in the winter I love to go skiing.
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I studied in Edinburgh, which is how I ended up staying in the UK. My family currently live in Colorado, USA, and I visit them every so often (especially in the winter go to skiing!) as I get 25-30 days of holiday per year. I grew up ski racing in New Hampshire and I raced slalom and GS for my University ski team, so it has always been a big part of my life. In the skiing off-seasons I stay active by running, dancing, and indoor climbing with friends. I’m currently trying to cycle more often to prepare for a charity cycle ride with my company from London to Amsterdam in the next few months. I love to read (novels and historical fiction are my favourite), so I always carry a book with me, particularly as my daily commute to the manufacturing facilities from London is pretty long.
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My pronouns are:
She/her
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My Work:
I am a Sustainability Engineer, so I develop ways to reduce energy, water and waste in manufacturing processes. I am responsible for Energy Management across 5 sites globally, but I am based out of the UK in Brimsdown and Royston.
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My work involves mapping out energy and water consumption across a manufacturing facility and identifying opportunities to improve. This could be through better process control, fixing leaks, or capturing waste heat and recovering it. For example, when you drive past a manufacturing plant and see a tall stack with a lot of steam coming out of it, this is often a large amount of heat that is being lost to the atmosphere. If you can match that heat loss with a need for heat within your plant, you can recover the heat there instead of sending it out of the stack. This reduces the energy consumption, and depending on the energy source, reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. I use chemical concepts such as thermodynamics for project studies like this one.
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My Typical Day:
On a typical day, I read my book on my commute to one of my manufacturing facilities in Brimsdown or Royston, where I arrive around 8am. I have my coffee and use my planner to review my agenda for the day. I often have some calls with the plants I work with in China and India in the morning, because it is later in the afternoon or early evening for them, and we catch up on their Energy Management progress. I then go out onto the manufacturing floor to collect some measurements or equipment information for my sustainability projects. I have lunch with my friends at the site canteen, and then in the afternoon I work from my desk on calculations for my projects. I go home around 4 or 5 pm.
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Education:
I went to my local state high school in the US where I studied all subjects – we don’t specialize down a STEM vs. Liberal Arts track in the US secondary schools. I particularly enjoyed maths, physics and chemistry, which is why I applied to University programs for Chemical Engineering, although I didn’t really know what that meant at the time! I decided to go to the University of Edinburgh in the UK to get the experience of living in another country. Needless to say, I liked Chemical Engineering, and the UK, because I stayed in the field and the country after!
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Qualifications:
I don’t have any UK school qualifications as I attended school in the US, but I did take Advanced Placement (AP) classes for Biology, Chemistry, Calculus, Physics, English Literature, English Composition, and Spanish. These exams granted me University-level credits while I was still in secondary school. Since joining the workforce following University with a Masters of Engineering (MEng) qualification, I have joined the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) as a Young Energy Professional and am working toward qualification as a Certified Energy Manager (CEM). I am currently an Associate Member of the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) and am working toward qualification as a Chartered Engineering.
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Work History:
Before University:
- Local real estate agent’s assistant
- Summer sports camp coach for ski racers’ dry land training
- Concert venue ticket-scanner and VIP lounge assistant
During University:
- Summer internships at local insurance company, data analysis focus
- Process Chemistry intern at aerospace company, lab experiments for corrosion protection in jet engines
- Industrial placement at consumer goods manufacturing plant, project engineering
After University:
- Sustainability Engineer and Environmental Leader at consumer goods manufacturing plant, the same company I had worked at for my University industrial placement
- Net Zero and Sustainability Engineer at a Sustainable Technologies company for their precious metals recycling plants – this is my current job.
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Current Job:
Net Zero and Sustainability Engineer for the Platinum Group Metals Services business
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Employer:
Johnson Matthey
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
snow-loving engineer
What did you want to be after you left school?
Chemical Engineer
Were you ever in trouble at school?
When I was around 8 years old I was always getting into trouble for talking too much during class, but I stopped disrupting lessons towards the end of primary school!
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
I would like to be a thermal engineer, more specialised than my current role. Alternatively, I find biotechnology very interesting. I also enjoyed working in a lab in the past so I might want to do some research again, maybe even a PhD!
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Arctic Monkeys
What's your favourite food?
Thai green curry
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1 - Have more confidence when speaking in front of large groups of people; 2 - Become a technical expert in energy and thermodynamics; 3 - See Net Zero achieved and minimize my carbon footprint in my own life, in and out of work.
Tell us a joke.
Why did the scarecrow win the Nobel Prize? - Because he was out-standing in his field!
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