Olu works as a junior engineer in the Post Development Design department of News Digital Systems, a global company which provides systems and services for digital broadcasting. Customers include BskyB, the BBC and Channel 4 and Channel 5. She is a member of the Women Engineers' Society and the Institution of Electrical Engineering.

Olu has always been interested in pursuing a career in software engineering. Her father is an engineer and she used to work with him at the weekends, helping him to fix computers, which she really enjoyed ("it is magical - you press keys and things happen, you can see the results instantly"). He supported her decision to study engineering although her mother feared she might be lonely in such a male dominated profession. Her friends, although surprised, encouraged her to take up the challenge.

At school she took A Levels in maths, computing, chemistry and physics, particularly enjoying computing. She then applied to the Year In Industry scheme which places gap year students in industry for 12 months. Her application was successful and after six interviews she was offered her position at NDS.

Olu spends much of her day writing software and developing hardware for analysis tools. Her department is responsible for all products that have finished their design stage. They cover all aspects of the design including the hardware, software, firmware and documentation. Olu is currently working on developing a tool to be used within her department for video buffer analysis. The programmes which she has designed are used within the department.

Olu really appreciates the time she has spent in industry and the opportunity it has provided her to gain real experience as an engineer. She feels she has grown in confidence and has learnt a lot about project management and working with others. However, she is very busy and sometimes feels under stress when deadlines approach. Olu has learnt to deal with this by being organised and by ensuring that she always manages her priorities effectively.

Olu has a place to read Software Engineering at Imperial College, London. After graduating she hopes to find work as a software engineer and is determined not to follow the growing trend of engineering graduates who choose to enter consultancy without having any real engineering experience. Hopefully, the money she would earn (it is very well paid as software engineers are in such short supply) would enable her to indulge in her other passion - travel. Olu is also determined to achieve chartered status with the IEE, feeling that accreditation helps to broaden your knowledge and is also a great way to meet fellow engineers.

Olu loves spending her weekends playing badminton, singing, going out with friends and listening to music.

Although the only woman in a department of 15, Olu does not feel that she is treated any differently because she is a female engineer. Her colleagues are really friendly and supportive and she can talk to them about anything, from her latest computer programme to the amount of time she spends in the bathroom.

She admits that when she arrived she felt that, as a female engineer, she had to prove herself capable of doing the job just as well as any man. She enjoyed this challenge and takes satisfaction from having now achieved a position of equality with her colleagues.