Meet the Team: Laura Suarez
At Innosea and OWC, our teams are constantly expanding, into more locations, in expertise, and in sectors of influence, so that our people can truly drive safety and sustainability across our energy and oceans.
Our people are at the heart of what we do and we invite you to get to know our team members so you can meet the energy behind change. This week, ahead of International Women in Engineering Day, we speak to Laura Suarez working as an engineer and consultant at Innosea.
Position: Engineer/Consultant, Marine Systems
Office: Innosea, Nantes, France
Hobbies: Cycling, yoga, painting, discovering parks, and playing music. (This year’s song seems to be “Abusey Junction” by Kokoroko!)
What does your day-to-day look like?
I start by reading e-mails, then checking my to-do list for the day and choosing what to start with.
It varies between running numerical analyses for floating wind, doing calculations in Excel, writing reports, reading papers and writing proposals. With a couple of meetings here and there and, of course, chatting with colleagues over coffee and (if we are lucky) croissants!
What inspired you to join the industry?
The field of marine renewables sparked by interest as soon as I heard it was a thing, during undergrad in engineering. So I started researching wave energy, then a bit of solar and wind, and finally did a masters in marine renewables with a thesis focused on floating wind. That pathway led to my job at Innosea.
Can you tell us about something exciting you are working on right now?
I’m working in a project where we study the coactivity possibilities of fishing and offshore wind in France.
It is really exciting to work with a multidisciplinary team, and thinking outside the typical technical box to find ways to couple these two important activities is very motivating to me.
This year’s theme for INWED24 is ‘enhanced by engineering’. How do you think we can enhance opportunities in engineering for women?
At a young age, so many girls now add “being an engineer when I grow up” onto the list of their dream careers! In schools, there are lots of STEM initiatives to inspire girl’s career choices and many workplaces actively build it to be inclusive for all genders. In this aspect I am an optimist, and I think we are going in the right direction (although we could use a little more of speed!). But I think we should be advocating for more women in leadership positions, especially senior management, so that gender equality is also present in a company’s strategy.
Find out more about Innosea and our experience: