World Engineering Day: Leicester engineering graduate builds a career as a future ‘space leader’

An engineer working on a mission to Mars who has been recognised as a future leader in the space industry has credited her studies at the University of Leicester on World Engineering Day (4 March).

Sam Ravi studied for a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering in the University’s School of Engineering, graduating in 2024, and is encouraging young people to consider the subject as a gateway to exciting career opportunities.

World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development on 4 March is a UNESCO international day that recognizes engineers and engineering.

Since completing her studies Sam has begun a full-time job at Airbus Defence and Space working on the ExoMars mission as a Mission Operations and FDIR (Fault Detection Isolation Recovery) engineer. She was selected as one of thirty Emerging Space Leaders by the International Astronautical Federation in 2024, which led to her presenting her work at the 75th International Astronautical Congress in Milan, the biggest space conference in the world.

Sam said: “It was such an honour to be a part of this cohort filled with young, bright, extremely passionate and motivated individuals from all around the world. Being recognized as one of 30 Emerging Space Leaders in the world, it was a confirmation for myself to keep doing what I do and this new title is an opportunity to have a wider impact. Receiving this award was a huge motivation to do more and work towards being a leader, working on solving important problems in the space industry.

A key step on her road to success was studying for an engineering degree at the University of Leicester. Sam credits the support from the highly experienced academics in the School of Engineering and its links with industry as valuable preparation for her career so far. 

Sam adds: “Doing an engineering degree gives you the option and opportunity to the best and most amazing jobs after! The world becomes your oyster, having a technical background. With science and tech rapidly growing, decade after decade, opportunities in this area will be endless and always needed. It is not only future-proof, but very rewarding in terms of the work and impact you get to have.

“Working hard on a technical degree is worth it, it opens up many doors, especially if you don't know what exactly you'd like to do. Personally, I have always been passionate about astrophysics, but I chose to do aerospace engineering instead of just astrophysics to have more opportunities to enter the industry. At Leicester, I was able to combine both my passions into the degree by making my dissertation space related, and it was great having a supervisor from Space Park Leicester!"

Sam began her journey at the University of Leicester by applying through Clearing and demonstrated that you can find success at university irrespective of the route you take to it. During her time at Leicester, she was involved in building a formula racing car with fellow Leicester students to compete in the Formula Student competition. She also led a team representing University of Leicester in the national UKSEDS Olympus Rover Trials, which led to a year in industry at Airbus Defence and Space where she now works at her ‘dream job’.

Sam adds: “'You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take', to quote Wayne Gretzky. Clearing can be one of those shots. You'll never know if you don't try to get the best opportunities.”