Molly Dalton

Head of Technical Education, Railway Engineering Institution

Please tell us about your current role and employer

I am responsible for a specialised Railway Engineering Technical Education portfolio, running over 50 courses a year face to face in the UK and Ireland and virtually across the world.

What does a typical day in your current role look like?

No two days are every the same! Some days are developing new course material, others are planning and selecting new lecturing staff members, and all the aspects you would expect of running an education provision, from continuous improvement to new and emerging technology!

What was your journey to getting a job after graduating from Birmingham?

I was a RESPECT sponsored student - so I did 3 x 12 week placements alongside my studies in the summer with Balfour Beatty, where I worked for most of my career until very recently.

How do you feel the learning experience on your course helped to prepare you for your career?

We were really well equipped with world class lecturers and also lots of group projects to start developing those skills that are so important to industry.

What are your top tips for students graduating today?

See your degree as a door which opens many opportunities, both inside and outside of your discipline!

My degree has fostered an innate interest in how things work - skills I have transferred into house renovations and to inspire the next generation! It has allowed me to be an engineer, a teacher, and a mother who encourages interest in the world around us!

What were the best things about your course?

The lecturers, and the campus of course.

What was your biggest achievement during your course?

My final year thesis. I did a project on the embodied carbon associated in railway activities back in 2015, when the industry was still finding its feet in this space. That knowledge has really helped in my own practise, where I led with carbon for a track design team many years later.