When Shena Howell was pursuing her passion for the arts at a young age, she never thought her natural creativity would drive her to become an innovative thought leader in South Australia’s defence and space industries.

In a career journey that has seen Shena find her way to South Australia from her native California, with stops in the United Arab Emirates and South Korea along the way, today Shena is a Senior Systems Engineer at Shoal, a local company renowned for designing complex systems and optimising large organisational capabilities through advanced systems engineering, modelling and analysis.

Reflecting on her unconventional path, Shena says, “My journey is a little atypical, I wasn’t one of those people who wanted to be an engineer at a young age. I had a friend who went to a museum as a child and got to see a moon rock and from that day she wanted to work in the space industry.”

“That wasn’t me, I enjoyed a lot of things growing up, I did theatre, I did journalism, but I also enjoyed the creative problem-solving aspect of maths and science.”

Shena’s never-give-up attitude may have been key to her success, “I’m not going to pretend engineering is super easy, and I don’t necessarily consider myself to be the smartest person in the room, but I am rather persistent and tenacious when I put my mind to something,” she admits.

“I felt like when I was at university, I didn’t belong in the traditional challenging engineering courses, and I actually nearly failed a couple of them.”

Finding a group of likeminded friends at university, who all felt a similar sense of imposter syndrome, gave Shena the confidence to continue her journey.

“It was reaffirming to know I wasn’t alone, and I was able to collaborate with others and use our individual strengths as a team to persevere all the way through to our gradation.”

The combination of natural creativity and a persistent search of problem-solving motivated Shena to apply for aerospace engineering because it sounded complex and ‘cool’, a challenge she could not resist.

“While I did eventually end up changing my major to mechanical engineering, being exposed to the aerospace world really opened up my eyes to the full breadth of engineering.

“That’s one of the great things about where I am now at Shoal, and why I like being a systems engineer, is that you get to work on a lot of different disciplines like defence and space.

“We also do transport, infrastructure and even energy, and all these areas have their own set of unique complex problems, that once solved, can have positive real-world applications.”

Shena has seen first-hand the impact a systems engineer can have on the world, travelling far and wide before landing in South Australia.

“I have been fortunate that my career has allowed me to go to some amazing places. Before I settled here in South Australia, I was lucky enough to work on two projects in different industries with completely different problems to solve in both the United Arab Emirates and South Korea.

“I then accepted a two-year assignment out at RAAF Base in Edinburgh, two turned into three, and then instead of returning home to the United States, an opportunity opened up at Shoal and that’s where I have been ever since.

Whilst California and South Australia are more than 13,000km apart, Shena said many would be surprised how similar they are, and that the decision to station herself here long-term, was an easy one.

“South Australia specifically has a very similar climate to Southern California. We have almost the exact same temperature gradient and even plant life, so the climate and work-life balance here make it an extremely familiar and comfortable place to live”.

“For me, work-life balance is key and having mechanisms like a 38-hour work week and guaranteed annual leave, in combination with Adelaide’s thriving art and creative community, I just thought South Australia offered me the perfect balance,” she says.

Shena believes this balance is a key factor in why South Australia continues to attract an innovative and diverse workforce, with the recent investment and infrastructure developments into the state, only the beginning.

“I think South Australia is on the verge of something very exciting in the coming years. We have established defence, space and innovation hubs which has attracted the likes of Boeing, BAE and the nuclear-powered submarine project.

“I am excited to see what comes next, whether that be big corporations or small-to-medium enterprises, there is space and opportunity here for everyone,” she says.

Shena notes that this continued growth will stimulate more employment opportunities for local South Australians, particularly for those who may not fit the ‘traditional’ description of a defence industry employee.

“The big thing I have always tried to do is be my authentic self. I may not look or sound like a stereotypical engineer, but I feel my unique qualities enhance my teams to ultimately help achieve a common goal.

“I believe we have a great opportunity in South Australia to embrace everyone’s unique skillset, we should embrace varying perspectives and transferable skills to build a diverse workforce in the defence industry, as that is how we will continue to be at the forefront of innovation”.

Explore the Find Your Place website to discover where you can find your place in South Australia’s defence and space industries.