Q&A: Aakeen Parikh, design engineer and social enterprise founder

What does your role involve?

I am a research project manager for Imperial College London’s Vehicle Futures Hub, which involves research management, strategic planning and innovation. On a day-to-day basis, I work closely with the hub directors and academic experts to advance Imperial’s research on vehicle technologies that will contribute towards a sustainable, net zero transport future. 

I am also the founder of The Minazi Impact, an engineering social enterprise with a mission to reduce global gender inequality through sustainable innovation. This combines my passion for equitable, social progress and sustainable engineering innovation. A key project I am involved with is the Sanitary Pad Project. As part of this, I helped built a production facility in Rwanda to make reusable sanitary pads from local resources, addressing period poverty while reducing plastic consumption. We are currently in the process of developing the next phase of the project and securing funding, which is a key part of my role.

Additionally, I am a STEM mentor and a strong advocate for inclusivity and diversity in engineering. When I was young, I used to find myself overwhelmed with imposter syndrome and it took me a long time to find my feet as a female engineer. My network has been truly inspirational to me and helped me gain confidence in myself. I love to participate in mentorship schemes and outreach programmes to help inspire others and share my journey. I do this primarily through my role as an ambassador for the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, but also as a guest lecturer for the sustainable engineering design and the equality, diversity and inclusion modules at Imperial, where I raise awareness of key issues and challenges in engineering, and how we can overcome them. 

What has been your biggest achievement or success in the last year?

Sometimes it can take a few months or years before the groundwork turns into a reality. I experienced that firsthand running the Sanitary Pad Project together with our project partner, Dufatanye Organization. This project has taken a few years to set up and build: installing machinery, securing the supply chain and developing the technologies. To date, delivering this project has taken a team of people and every contribution has been critical in achieving this progress. Last year, we increased our production supply and, by doing so, distributed over 3,000 reusable sanitary pads to women and girls in rural Rwanda. Period poverty impacts 500 million women and girls around the world. Not only are menstrual products inaccessible for some people, but the products in the market are also often unsustainable, because of their high plastic content, and contribute to environmental waste. Our project is a successful proof-of-concept that prevents waste and improves wellbeing. I am really proud to have contributed to this, and it feels great to look back at this impact.    

Another key achievement for me has been in my role as a project manager at Imperial. Last year, not only did we successfully launch the hub we also achieved several key milestones that will help shape the future of mobility, reducing emissions from transport while building safer and more connected communities. This is a great mission that I feel is really important and I’m proud to be a part of it.

Are new and emerging technologies having an impact on your role? If so, how?

I think one of the most exciting parts about working at a university is that you are always around new and emerging technologies. Assessing and working with emerging technologies is critical to my role as an innovation manager, as I work at the interface of research and translation. Emerging technologies will be key to how we adapt to the challenges and opportunities that the world faces, such as cybersecurity, resource shortages or climate change. At the Vehicle Futures Hub, there are many emerging technologies in transport and mobility such as alternative fuels, autonomous and electric vehicles, electrification, materials, and advanced manufacturing. Developments in AI, digital technologies and quantum computing are also key technologies that will influence the transition, unlocking several new solutions.

There are many challenges that impact people and the planet today that require interconnected, systematic solutions. I believe that emerging technologies should build societal resilience, be environmentally responsible and ensure equitable, just transitions.  As a founder of an engineering social enterprise, the innovations that excite me the most are those that look at alternative ways of engineering or systems thinking in a highly complex world.

What is your advice to budding engineers?

For a long time I believed that I needed to be perfect to be a good engineer. I used to think that I needed to get all the answers correct or know exactly how to solve a problem, often being quite hesitant to start. My advice would be trust yourself and to go ahead with doing something (even if you get it wrong or make a mistake). In fact, I think so much of learning and discovery lies in the things that don’t work – the methods that you get wrong, the experiments that break and the results that don’t make any sense. 

How does it feel to win this award?

It’s a real pinch-me moment and feels surreal! I’m so grateful to everyone that has supported me along the way and to the Academy for the opportunity.  It feels great to have the recognition. I hope to use this platform to inspire others, share my story and contribute to societal progress.