INWED 2019: Focus on CEGE’s Dr Bani Anvari

21 June 2019

As part of this year’s International Women in Engineering Day celebrations, CEGE has asked certain staff and students to tell us more about their experiences. In this article, Lecturer Dr Bani Anvari discusses her passion for engineering, and why INWED is so important.

Did you always want to be an engineer?

Yes, I’ve always enjoyed designing solutions to tangible problems. I observe, analyze problems that we face on daily basis, and try to be creative about suggesting potential solutions to make things work or work better – I find that satisfying and intellectually stimulating.

What’s your work and educational background?

I’m a Lecturer in Intelligent Mobility, and I look into human-machine interaction in CAV – connected and autonomous vehicles - and multi-objective optimisation (e.g., making systems efficient with different objectives). It is a multidisciplinary field that includes solving global transport challenges.

Describe a typical day at CEGE.

I’d say it’d be one that is always very interesting and different. I will generally have meetings with PhD students as well as my research team to discuss research projects. My meetings with undergraduate students are likewise rewarding; they are getting to know their interests and I have the chance to help guide them towards what they want.

What do you like most about working in engineering?

I love problem solving. The methodology to solve problems overlap a lot but the problems themselves have unique characteristics which make them interesting and challenging to solve.

Why are initiatives like INWED still important?

A lot of people still think that engineering is male-minded and masculine. It is very important to highlight that all characteristics and specialisms come in all genders, and initiatives like INWED provide the opportunity to do so.

What advice would you give your younger self?

When you want to change the world, you need to define your vision, stick to it, fight for it and not be afraid to take risks for it. You can’t sit back and hope it works out – you must fight and not give up when faced with set-backs.

Describe an engineer in three words.

I’d say engineers are creators, problem solvers and team-workers.

Dr Bani Anvari is Lecturer in Intelligent Mobility in the UCL Centre for Transport Studies, and currently teaches modules offered on UCL/Imperial College London's joint Transport MSc routes.

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Credit: Mary Hinkley, UCL Digital Media