Nasrin Esmaeili: "Relocating always comes with challenges"
You were born and raised in Iran. What attracted you to engineering?
I was born in Tehran, and when I was five, in 1980, the war between Iran and Iraq began. Life was very difficult at that time, and it made me decide to change my lifestyle. Becoming an engineer was a respected career that could make this possible. I also loved studying – especially mathematics – and I knew I wanted to go to university and have my own job.
You gained a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (Fluid Mechanics) at Iran University of Science & Technology. What were the challenges during your uni training and how did you overcome them?
When I started my mechanical engineering studies, of the 120 students in that field, just nine were women. At that time, many people couldn’t understand why a girl would choose mechanical engineering – some even thought I was just learning how to fix cars! Back then, girls weren’t really encouraged to go into every field of engineering. But I enjoyed my studies, and the students were very supportive of each other.
You started her career in Iran, working in building services and power plant systems. What led to your decision to head towards digital engineering?
My husband and I moved to Australia 11 years ago. Relocating always comes with challenges, and for me the biggest one was finding a job. At that time, mechanical engineering was in low demand in Australia, so I decided to move into drafting and modelling since I was already familiar with the software.
I joined a digital engineering team, working with Revit, Revizto, and Navisworks, and soon discovered that digital engineering is a very interesting field with great potential. It inspired me to become an expert in this field and set a goal to manage projects.
You’re a woman engineer in an industry that hasn’t always been very inclusive. Over the years, where have you seen improvements in attitudes and inclusiveness?
When I started out, there were few women in high-level or leadership positions. At that time, women had to work much harder to prove that they could do this sort of work. Although we see lots of women in leadership positions now, I think that there is still work to do – there is still this almost unconscious idea in society that women cannot be effective in decision-making positions.
If you had a 12-year-old girl in front of you wanting to be an engineer, what advice would you give her to help her achieve her dream?
I’d advise her to do exactly that and not listen to anyone who says engineering isn’t for women. If you believe in yourself and think you can do it, you can. And if you face an obstacle, find a way around it – look for a solution. Not pursuing what you truly like is the biggest failure of all.
What’s the most striking piece of advice you have ever heard?
Believe in yourself, respect yourself and love yourself.
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