We are excited to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day today, in which we acknowledge the amazing work that women engineers around the world are doing. Supporting lives and livelihoods every day. At Sofis, we’re proud of our women in engineering, like Ellen Maes, who identifies a problem, then dares to be part of the solution. As an Operations Director, Ellen is responsible for managing a wide variety of aspects related to the operations side of Sofis. But what exactly drew her to engineering?
Understanding how things work
“In secondary school I was really good at the scientific oriented classes,” Ellen says. “I wanted to understand how things work, and to know what happens if you change a parameter in a system.” When she turned 18, she needed to decide what to study. Ellen: “I consciously chose for a very broad scientifically and technically oriented environment. The school I signed up for was known to not only focus on the technical aspects. Instead, they offered a broad scope of classes, providing learning opportunities on presentation skills, business financials, and other skills that you need when moving up further in your career. ” Ellen studied electromechanical engineering for 4 years. “As the name suggests, this study is a combination of two disciplines, meaning you’ll know the basics of each one of them when you graduate.” For Ellen, this resulted in a perfect starting position, where she could easily find jobs, in different branches, with different types of products, offering a broad scope of opportunities for the future. Ellen: “I truly believe that the general character of the engineering study offered me all these different opportunities. This study can bring you wherever you want to go, and it provides a solid basis to work in any business, in any type of role.”
Nailing the job until the very end
After her graduation Ellen thought about her next steps. “It became clear to me that I wasn’t a ‘true’ engineer, in the sense that I would like to become a technical specialist. So I took on an extra year at University, and spent my time focusing on subjects around general business economics.” After finishing this extra year, Ellen started in a technical purchasing role, which she describes as ‘a step up between being a student and becoming an adult’. After three years, she moved to a different company where she got offered a new role, combining technical purchasing and project management. “I still remember my first external meeting with a customer and their construction workers”, she remembers smiling. “As I entered a construction shack, I clearly sensed that they were not used to a female in my position, and they were questioning my ability to lead their project.” For Ellen, this only made her wanting to ‘nail the job’ until the very end even more. “Back then, I definitely needed to prove myself, more than my male counterparts,” she says. “Luckily, that situation has now changed, but thinking back about it, I couldn’t think of any better motivation in wanting to become a strong female leader going forwards. I worked hard and quickly moved on to managerial roles in the organisation. In the end, it led me to where I am today, as the Operations Director at Sofis…!”
Solving problems, and improving processes
In her career, that embraces more than 16 years, Ellen has taken on various roles, from purchasing and supply chain management, to project management, service management, business development, customer service management and operations management. She has worked for companies in the plastic, greenhouse, wastewater, and oil and gas industry. As the Operations Director for Sofis, she is responsible for a wide variety of aspects. This involves the entire organisation of the Sofis workshop, but also all processes around our direct production. In her role, she particularly appreciates the variation of tasks. “Solving problems, improving processes and cooperating with lots of people with different backgrounds and nationalities go hand in hand.” What she likes most about Sofis is its ‘culture of open-mindedness’. “The company embraces change and has shown resilience. Sofis is determined to remain a thriving enterprise. If you want, there are many opportunities to grow here.”
Combining a challenging job with a busy home life
Ellen has a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Leuven University in Belgium and speaks fluent English, French, and Dutch. When not at work she enjoys spending time playing hockey, gardening, visiting rock concerts and spending time outdoors. What she loves most however is her family. “As a mom of five kids, my job isn’t finished when I leave the office. That’s why I highly appreciate Sofis for being a flexible employer, making it possible to combine a challenging job with my busy home life.”