In a special feature for International Women’s Day, Anna Quillinan shares how the world’s problems of energy and environment will only be solved through innovation from the widest range of thinkers.
There are two aspects of Anna Quillinan’s career that make her most proud: being a role model and mentor for women in engineering, and having the opportunity to use her technical skills to help address climate change through a reduction in emissions.
And it’s a combination of the two that she believes holds the solution to the climate emergency, which is challenging engineers to work smarter and more innovatively.
“Although I’m 25 years into my career, I’m no less passionate about my ability to do something good for the world,” Quillinan told create. “But I am also convinced that it is a calling that more women need to heed, now more than ever.”
Quillinan is Chief Development Officer and a Senior Executive at the Australian arm of Engie, a global energy business with ambitions to achieve net zero emissions by 2045.
She has been in the role three years and said she “finally felt like I had found somewhere that would allow me to make the difference I had always wanted to make”.
Different perspectives
Quillinan believes women can make an important contribution to help solve climate challenges.
“The problems that we’re trying to solve at the moment in terms of climate change and reaching net zero are huge,” she said.
“They’re some of the biggest problems that we’ve ever tried to solve and that requires lots of different people, lots of different opinions, lots of thought, and lots of ideas to come to the best solutions.
“That means men, women and people of all cultures and races and lifestyles are required to provide their input, because that’s when true innovation comes.”
Quillinan wasn’t always keen to share her opinions. She describes herself as shy and lacking in confidence early in her career and found that being a young female engineer sitting around a table of men could be intimidating.
“That sort of environment can lead to probably feeling that your opinions aren’t as valued,” she said.
“But it has changed a lot now. It’s still very much a male-dominated career and, depending on where you are – if you’re on a mine site, in a refinery – you’re probably still quite outnumbered in terms of male to female, but there’s more awareness that diversity of thought is a good thing.”
A global view
Shunning a school career adviser’s recommendation to become an accountant – she was good with numbers and understood complex systems – Quillinan followed her uncle’s suggestion to consider engineering.
It was a profession she knew nothing about, but she would go on to graduate with honours in chemical engineering from RMIT, then started in a graduate position at Pasminco Australia in zinc processing and smelting.
Her next move was to Europe, where she worked for Jacobs Engineering in the UK and Ireland on large-scale projects to improve waste systems, manufacturing performance, and environmental components of production and laboratory facilities.
She then returned to Australia for a 12-year stint at WorleyParsons in Melbourne, where she started as Lead Process Engineer and finished as Australia East Delivery, Performance and Innovation Director.
“I believe every job teaches us something not only about the work, but about ourselves, and what we want or do not want from our career,” she said.
“I discovered early on that I wanted my engineering career to lead me to somewhere I could be a force for good. Not to just oversee the projects and processes, but also to have the power to improve traditional engineering methods, and direct them toward more sustainable outcomes for the planet and for people.”
That led her to Engie.
“The last couple of years working for Engie and working in the realm of the energy transition have been super exciting and empowering, and have really brought that beautiful connection of being able to use your technical skills to do something great for the world,” Quillinan said.
“That’s something I’ve been searching for my whole career.”
She’s also happy to be a mentor and role model for other women.
“It’s a really lovely thing for young female engineers starting out to see someone in a leadership position, knowing that they can do it too,” she said.
“Being that role model – that’s something that makes me quite proud.”
Quillinan has mentored and supported women from various industries through several organisations such as Chief Executive Women, Glass Elevator and the Dream Collective.
She also holds a certification in diversity, inclusion and gender balance at Engie.
Saying yes
The advice Quillinan would give to younger women is to believe in themselves.
“Early in my career, I didn’t really see myself as being a leader or a boss,” she said. “I wish I’d had more confidence in those early years and maybe I might have become a leader a little bit earlier in my career. But then again, I am very, very happy with the experiences that I’ve had and the people I’ve met along the way.
“So I tell women to believe that they’ve got something to contribute. Say yes to whatever opportunity comes your way. Especially if you think, ‘Oh my god, I can’t do this.’ They are always going to be the greatest opportunities that you’ll take.
“If you feel scared, and you feel worried, then it’s a good thing. It’s going to push you and grow you.”
Quillinan cites the ability to work anywhere in the world and in so many different roles as a major benefit for women who are considering a career in STEM.
“In general, the way that engineering has taught me to think about things and look at problems is something that has benefitted every area of my life,” she said. “You’re not boxed in; there is always something new to explore, a different way of doing things to consider, and ideas that could revolutionise the way we currently do things and make things.
“This career arms you with the knowledge to impact the world in very vast and distinct ways, and there is no time like the present.
“The climate emergency is challenging us all to think smarter and more innovatively than we ever have before.”
Tickets for Engineers Australia’s International Women’s Day event series have sold out – but fostering diversity and progress in your organisation is always possible.