An engineering student has starred in a new video featuring Marvel's Black Panther actor Letitia Wright, that aims to change perceptions about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Olga Posopkina, who studies Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Aberdeen, is one a four female ‘Engineering Real-Life Heroes’ to appear in the video by Shell.
Olga is part of the 20-strong team from the University (Team PrototAU) building their own hydrogen-fuelled car as they prepare to compete against teams from around the world in this year's Shell Eco-marathon competition.
The Shell Eco-marathon challenges students to design, build and test energy-efficient cars, pushing the boundaries of what is technically possible. Team PrototAU have made it through several qualifying stages to reach the competition finals, which take place in London in July.
In her interview with Letitia Wright, Olga describes how she was inspired to follow a career in engineering by her grandmother, a mechanical engineer.
“She was always a role model for me because she was a strong woman who had a lot of challenges in her life,” she said.
“She was also a very successful mechanical engineer for her time. It’s nice that I can do something that she loved and that I love as well.”
Olga said that she knew coming to Scotland from Estonia to study would be a challenge, but she made her choice because she knew that it would help her develop her skills.
“Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are disciplines that help people change the world to make it a better place,” she added.
“The future is technology and technology is the future. The more varied people we have the brighter the results will be.”
You can watch the main video here
You can watch Letitia Wright’s interview with Olga here