Profile
Erin Coates
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About Me:
I live with my Husband, Daughter, and very large labradoodle Winston in Wiltshire. I love walking, swimming, paddle boarding, reading and spending time with my friends. My greatest passion is travelling the world with my family.
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As a family we enjoy travelling and love having trips planned. This year we are visiting many different places. In the summer we are travelling to Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. We also have trips to Hungary and Italy planned.
I also love walking and regularly visit Scotland with my family to climb the mountains and swim in the lochs.
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My pronouns are:
she/her
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My Work:
I am the Strategic Technology Manager for a high performance polymer (plastic) manufacturer. I work in the Energy Sector of our Business
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My role is very diverse however I predominantly work as one the technical leads. This can involve providing our customers with technical support, new product development and researching new markets where our product might have a technical fit.
To do this a significant amount of team work is required. For me personally I work with many different functions in the business such as sales, strategic marketing, R&D, Industrialisation and production to deliver new solutions to our customers.
When possible I attend conferences and trade show exhibitions to promote our product, learn new market trends and meet new and current customers.
Growing up I never knew what career path I wanted to follow but I spent a lot of my time volunteering or gaining work experience to try and understand what my likes and dislikes were. My motto was “you don’t know unless you try it” and by being open about trying new things, even those that I didn’t think I would enjoy it led me to the career path I have today.
I have always been interested in puzzles and problem solving; studying science allowed me to explore this curiosity further. Throughout my time in academia I had 2 strong female role models/mentors both at A Level and whilst studying for my degree which really encouraged me to pursue a career in science. I studied Chemistry at University and developed a strong interest in laboratory work. This led me to applying for my first ever role at Victrex, which was a summer placement between my second and third year. During my final year at University I was asked if I would like to come back to work at Victrex which I chose to do rather than complete my masters. 10 years and 3 very different roles later I am still enjoying learning and exploring new areas where our products make a difference.
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My Typical Day:
I wake up, have breakfast and get my daughter ready for nursery. I work from home so don’t have a commute. I start my work day at 8:30am where I answer lots of emails and attend video meetings. Then I have lunch and walk our dog Winston. In the afternoon I work on my projects which can be analysing data, planning experiments and developing new ideas. I finish work at 5pm.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Go on holiday with my husband and daughter
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Education:
St Bede’s High School
Cardinal Newman College
University of Leeds
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Qualifications:
10 GSCEs
1 x AS level (Textiles)
3 x A Levels (Chemistry, Biology, Sport)
BSc in Chemistry (hons) from University of Leeds
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Work History:
I worked as a waitress in a cafe at a local holiday part whilst I was at college.
I completed summer placements whilst at University with a PhD group studying DNA and also at the high performance polymer (plastic) company I now work at. This company is called Victrex
I started at Victrex as a Technician, working in the lab analysing materials and carrying out lots of different experiments. My second job at Victrex was a Scientist. This is where I worked in the lab creating new materials (grams) and then working on scaling them up to larger quantities (kg) and then to full production scale (tonnes). My third and current job is Strategic Technology Manager
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Current Job:
Strategic Technology Manager: Energy Business Unit
My role is very diverse however I predominantly work as one the technical leads. This can involve providing our customers with technical support, new product development and researching new markets where our product might have a technical fit.
To do this a significant amount of team work is required. For me personally I work with many different functions in the business such as sales, strategic marketing, R&D, Industrialisation and production to deliver new solutions to our customers.
When possible I attend conferences and trade show exhibitions to promote our product, learn new market trends and meet new and current customers.
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Employer:
Victrex is a world leader in PEEK and PAEK-based polymer solutions, helping customers to overcome complex design and engineering challenges.
With every new development, we seek to deliver better outcomes for our customers – helping manufacturers overcome complex design and engineering challenges.
Thinner, smarter, lighter, more fuel efficient and durable; we work continuously to achieve improved economic and performance solutions, guided by megatrends such as climate change, social demographics and technology breakthroughs.
Every day, millions of people use sustainable products and applications containing our materials – from smartphones, aeroplanes and cars to oil and gas operations and medical devices. The diverse and innovative uses for our PEEK polymer have never stopped growing and evolving.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
dog-loving travelling scientist
What did you want to be after you left school?
Dentist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
No
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Writing Travel Guides whilst travelling the world
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Taylor Swift
What's your favourite food?
Pizza
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1) to be healthy and happy 2) to always be curious about the world and continue to travel 3) to live forever
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