Women in Tech??Interview with Alice Bunn from UKspace

Striving for equality in the tech sector is central to?#techUK’s?mission. Throughout March, coinciding with International Women’s Day (#IWD2023) on 8 March, we are exploring how we embrace equitable workplaces that support?#WomenInTech.??Although our campaign spotlights women in tech, we want to ensure that we are supporting allies in all shapes and forms, wherever they come from.

This article is part of a series of interviews where we give voice to these gender diversity allies to call out the bias, expose the barriers for women in tech and spotlight the importance of a diverse tech future through their own experience.

Meet our 9th interviewee of the month:? Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng , one of the most respected figures in global space industry.?

With a career spanning more than two decades, Alice has spearheaded numerous initiatives across the UK Space Agency , European Space Agency - ESA to advance space science and technology, promote international collaboration, and encourage diversity and inclusion in the industry.

From her early days at the Science Museum Group to her current role as Chief Executive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) , Alice shares with us how she stumbled into space, in spite of not being a natural fan of rockets and astronauts, the importance of having women role models and her top tips for international and multilateral negotiations.

?? Tell us a bit more about how you started your career in space…

I had three brushes with space before I really got the bug. During my PhD in Metallurgy at 英国剑桥大学 , I had an experiment going into space but I wasn’t really excited – I just wanted to get gravity out of the way!

Shortly after I started working for the Science Museum Group in the Space Gallery, but again ?it was the draw of visitors to the gallery that was the appeal, rather than the hardware and rockets per se. It wasn’t until I started getting involved in putting together an exhibition on space programmes for environmental monitoring that I was genuinely fascinated by space.

??And what opportunities did this industry open for you?

The opportunity for international cooperation was first and foremost, to me. Space is inherently about international cooperation, even if you aren't sharing the costs of the infrastructure, you are sharing the operating environment.

What we generally find in space is that people take a more cooperative approach and more collaborative approach, just because we have to share the operating environment. And I found that really inspiring.

The first few years that I worked in space, I was very much focused on environmental monitoring. I found it extraordinary to discover that over 50% of the things that we need to measure to even understand climate change can only be measured from space. That power of being able to understand our own planet was jaw-dropping for me.

??Why do you think it’s important for more women to join the space sector? What value can women bring to the table?

Space is going to hold the key to solving so many of the challenges faced by our planet: be that climate change, be that food shortage, be it the connectivity gap.

These are significant engineering challenges; thus, we need the greatest diversity of thought around the table to make sure that we can tackle these. We must ensure that the sector is as welcoming and as inclusive as possible to maximise that diversity of thought.

??What challenges does the sector still face while on its path for true gender equality?

Space has got a bit of an image problem. First thing that comes to mind when people think of space is rockets, astronauts, and missions to Mars. And of course space is that, but space is so much about benefits here on Earth – it's so much about enabling a better quality of life for everyone.

Once that opportunity of space is better understood, we will get a more inclusive and diverse workforce, because the breadth of the opportunity will inherently appeal to a broader cross section of society.

??Do we need more female role models to inspire younger generations? Did you have any role model when you started your career?

I think the power of role models is really, really important here, the ability for younger girls, in particular, to see senior figures in the space sector and think that could be me, is really, really important.

I’ve always looked up to Barbara Ryan , who is the Executive Director World Geospatial Industry Council (WGIC) , but at the time was the head of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) , which was a global data sharing initiative around environmental data.

Her empathetic style of leadership, in other words, how do I help you help me, had a massive impact across the organisation. She managed to have many more organisations willing to come forward and share their data, and ultimately, they were able to feed in and collectively developed the sorts of interoperability standards that enabled them to share their data easily.

??What’s your number one piece of advice for the future generations entering the space industry?

It would be to take more time to understand the constraints under which others might be operating. I think that was true of my time dealing with ministers - particularly when you are dealing with a subject like space which has science, economic, defence, foreign policy considerations, to name just a few! A whole range of views will need to be taken into account, from ministers, special advisors, all the way up to Number 10 at times.

Just because you're dealing with someone that you feel is very senior, it doesn't necessarily mean that they have the freedom to take decisions. And I've learned that at my cost. Taking the extra trouble to understand the constraints of those that you're negotiating with, is never wasted effort.

At the international stage, there are also a wide range of different conditions playing out in different countries, they might be at different points in their fiscal cycle, there might be different circumstances going on outside of the space sector that is affecting their ability to negotiate at the table.

Dr Alice Bunn OBE FIMechE FRAeS CEng is President of the UKspace trade association; chairs the professional engineering committee in the UK; sits on the Board of Engineering UK; sits on the World Economic Forum Future Council on space technology; and is vice-chair of the board of the charity SwimTayka .

If you’d like to find more and get involved in our joint satellite work with UKspace, click here.?