Celebrating INWED 2026: Women at Celeros FT share career journeys shaped by technical, commercial and engineering intelligence.
Engineering careers rarely follow a single route. Journeys are shaped by curiosity, problem-solving, collaboration, and the confidence to move into unexpected spaces. The field offers endless opportunities to solve meaningful problems and make a difference.
That breadth is reflected in this year’s International Women in Engineering Day theme: Engineering Intelligence. As AI and digital tools reshape how work is performed, engineering intelligence is becoming more important, not less: the ability to ask the right questions, interpret information, balance competing requirements, and translate technical possibility into practical customer value.
At Celeros Flow Technology (“Celeros FT”), that intelligence is visible in the work women are doing across the business. From pump applications and quotation development to major global projects; they're solving complex engineering and operational challenges while also bringing technical understanding, commercial insight, and practical intelligence to work that supports essential industries.
From curiosity to solutions
For Bhuvana D, Associate Application Engineer in Commercial Operations at Celeros FT, engineering began with “a curiosity about how things work and a desire to solve practical problems.” Her career has since evolved from a primarily technical focus into a role that bridges engineering knowledge with business requirements.
Today, she supports quotation preparation, costing, and proposal development for pump projects, working with sales, engineering, product specialists, and customers to develop solutions that meet both technical and commercial needs.
Bhuvana's blend of capabilities is central to what engineering looks like in practice. Effective engineering is not only about understanding principles; it also requires critical thinking, commercial awareness, communication, adaptability, and collaboration. For example, in complex quotation projects, success often depends on gathering input from multiple stakeholders, evaluating risks and finding practical solutions that balance customer requirements, competitiveness, and delivery timescales.
Beyond technical routes
Anna Sklodowska, Global FPSO & EMEA Regional Team Lead, has also seen her career move in an unexpected direction. Coming from a family of engineers, she initially expected to follow a hands-on engineering design path. "If you'd asked me at university, I'd have imagined I'd spend my career designing things in CAD software," she reflects. Instead, she discovered she was equally drawn to the commercial side of engineering, where technical knowledge, customer understanding, and business strategy come together.
For Anna, engineering intelligence touches every aspect of the customer relationship. It means listening, staying open-minded, and looking beyond the technical answer to understand what the customer really needs. It’s not always about trying to deliver the most technical solution. That perspective has helped her team secure and support major projects, including ultra-high-pressure pumps supplied to FPSOs and CCUS pumps for a decarbonisation project in the Middle East.
Anna has also supported Celeros FT’s implementation of Ranger AI, a third-party AI-powered tender management platform that helps improve quotation efficiency and risk identification in complex proposal processes. The work involved taking a broad view, listening to colleagues with different specialisms, and understanding how emerging technologies can support better, faster decision-making across commercial operations.
Advice for future engineers
AI and digital tools may change the way engineering work is carried out, but they also increase the value of people who can combine technical knowledge with judgement, communication, and curiosity. The opportunity is there to keep learning, keep contributing, and help shape the future of essential industries.
Here are Bhuvana and Anna's takeaways for women considering a career in engineering when the industry is evolving quickly:
- Stay curious. Engineering starts with wanting to understand how things work and how problems can be solved. AI is changing how information is gathered and applied, but human questioning is essential.
- Build more than technical knowledge. Communication, adaptability, collaboration, and commercial awareness all shape how engineering solutions matter in practice.
- Don't wait to tick every box. Believe in yourself and put yourself forward, even if you don't meet every requirement.
- Stay open to different routes. Engineering can lead into applications, commercial operations, customer-facing roles, and global project leadership.
- Keep learning. Every project, product line, and challenge is an opportunity to build confidence, broaden your skills and make a meaningful contribution.
As engineering evolves, opportunities for women to shape industries, lead teams, and solve complex global challenges continue to grow. Both Anna and Bhuvana’s experiences show there is no single route through engineering, and that curiosity, confidence, and commercial-mindedness can open up paths in unexpected places.
