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Ella Podmore is redefining the role of women in the automotive and tech industries, thanks to her bold innovations. Read on to know how Ella Podmore is steering STEM innovation at McLaren and encouraging more women to enter this field.
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McLaren is a British luxury automotive company known for its sports cars. These cars have a masculine energy surrounding them, but behind their high performance is a key member named Ella Podmore MBE.
As a materials scientist, Ella Podmore handles all materials-related investigations on McLaren’s supercars. Her journey represents a shift in how Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) are changing industries, and more importantly, how women are at the forefront of this change.
Ella Podmore is a young scientist working for McLaren and a prominent name in the automotive industry. Born and raised in the UK, she studied materials science at the University of Manchester and joined as an intern at McLaren during her master’s degree. After completing her degree, she joined McLaren as a full-time employee and has moved up rapidly in her career.
Her interest in materials science began with the discovery of Graphene at the University of Manchester by Prof Andre Geim and Prof Kostya Novoselov. Since then, she aspired to handle this wonder material, and this is what eventually took her to the same university.
In 2022, she was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) award for her contribution to science and engineering. A closer look at Ella Podmore's biography reflects her innate passion for STEM, and her efforts in bringing more women into this space.
One of the first challenges that Ella Podmore faced was gender disparity. Often, she was the only woman in the room, along with other men. While this stark difference was intimidating at first, she quickly learned to adapt and thrive. She even leveraged her position as the sole woman in her class to talk to professors and get more opportunities.
Her strong mindset and technical excellence helped to make a mark for herself in a man’s world. Today, she conducts experiments at McLaren on how to make materials lighter, so the cars can move faster.
McLaren is a unique company known for its fine balance between speed, safety, and sustainability. This is where Ella Podmore makes a difference with her expertise and knowledge. She bridges the gap between theoretical science and hands-on problems by;
With these insights, she ensures that McLaren cars run smoothly and safely on the road without compromising on the high performance, one of the biggest reasons for customers to buy these cars.
Her contributions to McLaren’s performance have made Ella a role model for women who aspire to take up STEM. She is also one of the prominent STEM speakers, and visits schools to encourage more girls to take up science and engineering.
Technology has long been regarded as a man’s world, but that is changing, thanks to the inspiring success of people like Ella Podmore. After navigating this world, she is more convinced than ever before that women can play an active role in this space. Today, she is a vocal advocate for women in tech.
With her public speaking sessions, interviews, and outreach programs, she strives to show women the benefits of science and engineering, and the huge untapped potential that exists in these industries. During her sessions, she dispels myths that surround the tech industry, and actively encourages more girls to step into science and automotive engineering.
What makes Ella Podmore’s role even more interesting is how she straddles science with business strategy. Her role at McLaren is a reflection of how material sciences impact the brand reputation of the company, thereby bringing out the complex connections that exist between scientific research and the commercial aspects of running a business.
Ella Podmore's LinkedIn page humanizes technology and makes it feel more accessible for other women aspiring to make a career in this field. It shows her in-depth understanding of the technical details of materials at the atomic level and her ability to map it with what her customers and regulators want. Above everything, she confidently communicates complex findings to cross-functional teams, making her a valuable asset for the entire automotive industry.
This ability to clearly communicate is also what makes her one of our inspiring speakers, as she can explain science in business terms! This way, she speaks to both technical and business audiences, and helps bridge the gap that’s often seen among engineers and executives in organizations.
Ella Podmore opines that when girls are right or nine years old, they aspire for STEM careers like becoming an astronaut, but when they reach secondary school, they prefer to become a big influencer on YouTube. Ella wants to change this approach and encourage the next generation of women to have careers in STEM because they are rewarding. The Ella Podmore Instagram page is a reflection of these goals, where she proves that commercial success and gratification are possible in STEM jobs.
One of her biggest arguments is that one cannot see when they don’t step into the arena. By walking the talk and becoming successful, she shows the next generation what to expect in tech and how it can be rewarding with the right mindset and passion.
Overall, Ella Podmore is more than a scientist working behind the scenes at McLaren. She is an active connector, as she strives to bridge the gap that exists between theory and application, aspiration and action. Her influence goes beyond the automotive industry and touches every area of STEM.
For women who have an interest in STEM, Ella’s social handles are worth following. For organizations that want to bring in more women engineers on board and motivate them to take on bigger responsibilities, Ella’s speeches can be inspiring.
To book Ella Podmore MBE for your next event or to learn more about her journey, visit her official Speaker Agency page.
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