Dr Emma Taylor’s 30 year career started with BAE Space Systems’ sponsorship for her studies at Oxford. Over the next seven years, she worked on space missions, including research on materials retrieved from the Hubble Space Telescope. Recruited from her PhD to the European Space Agency, she ran novel computer simulations for the International Space Station.
As a Principal Engineer, she led R&D on resilient spacecraft structures, and an ISO standards team of space agencies to protect Earth orbits. In parallel, Emma was a carer for eight years, leaving her university academic post for a career break. Retraining as a system safety engineer, winning a university scholarship and research prize, she then worked in O&G, including as Operations Manager.
A 2018 Telegraph Top 50 Woman Engineer, and a WISE Woman in Industry Finalist, Emma is now a Lead Systems Safety Engineer at RSSB, advising on safety, risk assessment and standards. She works to enhance understanding and implementation of security and cybersecurity within transport, including data integrity of a mobile app and a cloud-based safety-related reporting system. As Chair of the Safety and Reliability Society and STEM charity trustee she collaborates with specialists worldwide to influence best practice in safety and reliability.
Emma is passionate about the power of mentoring to provide practical guidance. She writes online, builds networks amongst engineers of all disciplines and is developing the field of digital mentoring, including building a Gen Z to Gen X team to develop the concept of an Instagram mentoring channel.
