Hi, I’m Lizaan!
Here are a few facts about me and also my video about why I’m so passionate about inspiring and empowering people just like you to explore opportunities in STEM…
My career specialism:
Industrial Engineering
My current role:
Business Analyst
When not STEM-ing you can find me…
Drinking coffee on a couch somewhere.
Living life to the fullest with my husband and two girls.
3 fun fact about me and my industry:
- Industrial engineering dates back to the 20th century. When Henry Ford invented the Ford Model T (the first car affordable to the average person), he introduced the concept of assembly lines in his factory, thereby reducing the assembly time of a car from more than 700 hours to only 1.5 hours! He said, “Many people are busy trying to find better ways of doing things that should not have to be done at all. There is no progress in merely finding a better way to do a useless thing.”
- You may have seen many jokes about engineers and their lack of social skills. This is actually a misconception! Good communication skills are especially important in industrial engineering, where justifying improvement recommendations is essential. Helping people to understand and embrace change is key to the success of any project.
My career path:
When I was 15 years old, a careers counsellor recommended that I consider studying industrial engineering. I immediately dismissed the idea, but later I told a friend. I remember her reaction as if it were yesterday: “That sounds so cool!” So, two years later, I started my industrial engineering degree at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa – and to my surprise, almost half of the class were girls!
Four years later, I started my professional journey as an operational business improvement consultant in Cape Town. Here I was introduced to a wide variety of industries and projects across many countries. Some of the exciting projects I worked on included:
– Calculate how many people should work in retail stores
– Calculate how many wine storage tanks to install on a wine farm
– Design production layouts for large clothing factories
– Evaluate which automation to install in a pathology laboratory
– Reduce the queue lengths and waiting times in a grocery store
I became a Professional Engineer, specialising in workforce planning until moving to the Isle of Man in 2018. Initially, I worked remotely here for a London-based consulting firm. This was before the COVID-19 pandemic in a world where international conference calls were preferred over Teams. Working like this quickly became isolating. I needed to engage with clients frequently to keep growing and to keep work interesting! I also realised that to truly become part of the Isle of Man community, I needed to work on the island.
Since industrial engineering isn’t a well-known profession on the island, I had to actively analyse job descriptions to find the jobs requiring my skills and experience. I found that industrial engineering and business analysis share a common focus:
Understanding problems, and making improvements that align with a specific goal.
Today I’m working as a Business Analyst for the Isle of Man Government in a team that strives to ensure that the government is delivering the right change in the right way, ultimately making a difference in the lives of many people.
In this modern world, the need for efficiency and effectiveness is higher than ever before. Businesses must improve continuously to stay competitive; therefore the demand for industrial engineers is expected to keep increasing.
My advice for any young person considering their career options would be to do the research – talk to people (don’t just Google it).
Find something you’re good at, something you love, and something that allows you to keep growing with the ever-changing world.
Take a look at Lizaan’s story on our YouTube Channel
