International Women in Engineering Day

June 23, 2021

International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) is an international awareness campaign that raises the profile of women in engineering and focuses attention on the amazing career opportunities available to women and girls in this exciting professional sector.

For the 2021 INWED, the focus is on female engineers at California-based Safran Passenger Innovations – a provider of in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems and connectivity systems for the airline industry worldwide.

Headquartered in Brea, the company developed RAVE™, a reliable, affordable and standardized product line approach that helps make its products very easy to buy, operate, and maintain.

NAZLY AHMADI

Senior Aircraft Systems Engineer

I come from a family of dentists.  My father’s dream was for me to become one as well.  However, I never shared the family passion and decided to continue pursuing my interest, which was in mathematics.  I received my undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering in Iran and was particularly interested in digital communications. I moved to California and continued my education earning a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from California State University, Fullerton with special focus on digital communications.  I worked as an electrical engineer starting with Zodiac Aerospace Cabin Interiors for several years and moved on to an electrical and avionics engineering role at Mooney Aerospace. When the research and development section of Mooney aircraft moved from California to Texas in 2017, I joined Safran Passenger Innovations (Zodiac Aerospace at the time) as an installation engineer and later aircraft systems engineer. I really enjoy the roles and responsibilities of my current job. It fulfills me to the highest. I am customer-interfacing and technically-driven at the same time. It’s like having the best of two worlds. Being a female engineer in a male-dominated environment can feel isolating, but a great company culture and understanding co-workers can ease the intensity of being the only (or one of the few) females in an engineering department. Safran Passenger Innovations has exceeded my expectations in this regard. I feel I can perform professionally in a judgment-free environment with support from my co-workers and colleagues.

 

DENISE ANDERSON

Senior Engineering Technician

I began working in the aerospace industry shortly after finishing high school.  I attended a job fair at Hughes Aircraft and ended up getting hired doing production work at their Fullerton facility.  It was there that I was trained and certified to IPC610 standards and learned to work for extended periods of time “under a microscope.”  I found that I had a knack for this type of work and was able to progress to more complicated assemblies.  Later in my career, I went to work at Thales and moved from production work to the engineering department.  Working with several talented engineers, my skills expanded to include reading drawings and building custom cables to engineering specs.  I found this challenging, but also realized I had a skill that was appreciated and crossed the boundaries that gender sometimes creates.  Being a “woman in engineering” wasn’t something I considered as an issue.  I had abilities that were in demand and took pride in being able to deliver quality products to exacting requirements.   In 2012, I joined IMS (later Zodiac, and finally Safran) and continued work in the Engineering Department.  I love my work and our close-knit team, and look forward to continuing my growth with every new challenge.​​​​​​

 

ADRIAN PHAM

Test Engineer

Since an early age, my favorite and strongest subjects were physics and math – so engineering was a natural fit for me.  Also, hands-on problem solving and creating a better experience for the end users brings me job satisfaction.  Prior to joining Safran Passenger Innovations, I was working for Raytheon and another aerospace/ defense company for 10 years.  I enjoy working here at Safran Passenger Innovations, because every project is a new learning opportunity and our team and clients are amazing!   We have an incredible team here at Safran Passenger Innovations...as everyone is so collaborative, supportive and great to work with. My biggest inspiration is my son Justin, who means the world to me.  I want to teach him that if you work hard and follow your passions, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.

 

RANI KRISHNASAMY

Product Developer

I chose an engineering career because I have always wanted to do something innovative and challenging.  My inspiration comes from thinking:

• Don't get stuck doing the same thing day in day out.  Do something where you can exercise your brain!  That give you the ability to think logically and to solve problems;
• Engineering is a challenging career. It needs skills like problem solving, creativity, managing issues effectively and passion to face the day-to-day challenges which will keep us engaged and become creative. This brings new learning opportunities every day which will make a difference immediately, over time and in the future.

I work with very talented people here at Safran Passenger Innovations and each and every one inspires me. That keeps me going and I have learned a lot here with challenges we face every day.  I’ve also found that having confidence in your own abilities is really important, but never be afraid to ask for help.