Team stories: Working in a supportive environment – Chisom Akujobi

Chisom Akujobi is a Power Electronics Engineer. Originally from Nigeria, she completed her MSc in Electrical Power Engineering at Newcastle University. After building over five years’ experience within the UK power electronics industry she joined RootWave in November 2021.

“I am proud to work for RootWave. Recently, I started working towards becoming a Chartered Engineer with the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). I have won the first round of the IET “Present in 10” competition under the sustainability and climate change category, which was an opportunity to champion my work with RootWave to other engineers. I was proud to talk about electrical weed control as a sustainable solution.

Sustainability and the chance to make a difference to the world was one of the things that first attracted me to the role here. I was also very interested in working with high frequency electricity. The fact that it is a spectrum of electricity that can be used to build safer products is appealing. I felt it would be good for my career development to work in that field.

Even from before my first day of work for RootWave I noticed there was a sense of family here. I was returning to work after maternity leave, and I was given good advice and great support on how best to get back into things.

Now, I am supported with a hybrid structure and a really collaborative working environment. We are building new products, so I love coming into the office to meet with project teams and catch-up on the progress others are making – but I can split that with some time working from home. This is helpful if I need to pick up my son from nursery, or simply need quiet time to focus on my work.

I feel comfortable at RootWave, there is a great collaborative atmosphere, so I can always do my best work. I think the multicultural nature of our team really helps with that. We have a wide range of personalities within the business, and we gel very well together. Everyone brings different ideas to the table and we collaborate to get the best solutions.

Of course with the nature of what we are building, we are working to deadlines. New prototype products will need to be in the field at certain times of the year – but I never feel like I am being put under pressure, everyone works together because we all want to achieve the same goal. I feel comfortable that I am being trusted to deliver, and trusted to manage my own time. I will come into the office when I need to work with others on something, but I can also get things done at home.

I have had fantastic encouragement from my manager, particularly with working towards becoming a chartered engineer. He was keen to put me forward, and he has been flexible with my tasks, so that I can use and develop different skill sets. Ultimately this will benefit the business too, as I am growing as an engineer and will bring more to the table. Another element of working for RootWave that has helped me grow is being part of the full cycle of product development. I can be working with other teams, discussing how a power board that I am designing will fit into the finished product – then later I will be involved in testing, collecting and analysing data. This is a chance to gain feedback on my work in real time, and I can take that back into my designs. It is really exciting and really satisfying.”

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