What does it actually take to build a career in engineering when the path is anything but straight?In this episode, Josh sits down with Susan Ipri-Brown, immediate past president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, one of the oldest engineering institutions in the world. From a grandfather who never doubted she'd follow him into the profession, to internships at General Motors, to teaching, to leading ASME, to starting her own company, Susan's "squiggly line" is a masterclass in adaptability.We get into the gap between what universities produce and what industry needs, why students underestimate the story they've already built, and how knowing your capabilities, including the ones you don't yet have, changes the way you grow. Susan also makes the case for professional societies as a place to lead before your job lets you, and reflects on what mentorship really looks like across a career.A genuinely transatlantic conversation on workforce development, self-awareness, and why engineering is, at its heart, about possibility.

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Paul is an independent consultant working at the nexus of public and private heat networks, having most recently spent five years at Vattenfall and, before that, a long career at Whitby Bird and Ramboll.His route in started early, a grandfather he knew as an engineer without ever learning what he did, an uncle's stories over slabs of Irn Bru, a laser lab in Liverpool, and a week of work experience on a harbour build that showed him the scale and impact of real infrastructure. A gap-year CAD job became a general engineering degree at Cambridge, which became geotechnics almost by chance when Whitby Bird won the BBC Broadcasting House project, which eventually became energy, and then heat networks, the only thing he does now.In this episode, we explore what a non-linear engineering career actually looks like from the inside why exposure matters more than knowing exactly where you'll end up, how the mentors who gave him space to learn and fail shaped everything, and why he went from "total skeptic" of district heating to total advocate. We talk about the Scotland Heat Map he helped build, the economic case for backing young engineers early, and what it really takes to move from doing the engineering to leading the people who do it. We also get into chartership why he failed the first time, why he deserved to, and what the second attempt taught him, plus his belief that the future of heat lies in coordinated regional energy companies rather than 32 organisations repeating the same lessons.This is an honest conversation for students and early career engineers wondering how a career builds when you stay open to the pivot have a spark, keep feeding it, and be careful not to overfeed it.

Connect with Paul Steen on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulsteen

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Episode 50. Two years, 56 guests.

There's no straight line into engineering.

In this milestone solo episode, recorded at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS), Josh shares the four things 49 conversations have taught him about how people actually build careers in engineering, why the routes in matter far less than what you do once you're there, and why there's never been a more important time to back young people into this industry.

Josh also joined by Kirsty Pinnell, who leads the internship programme at NMIS, to talk about what a real route into industry looks like in practice.

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National Manufacturing Institute Scotland - https://www.nmis.scot

NMIS Internship 2026 Programme -https://www.nmis.scot/work-with-us/careers/internship/

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Follow Engineer a CareerLinkedIn: @engineeracareerInstagram: @engineeracareerTikTok: @engineer.a.careerYouTube: @engineeracareerWebsite: www.engineeracareer.co.uk