“Our company is the world’s largest manufacturer of infinitely recyclable aluminium beverage cans – although we also have an aerosol division and even an aerospace division in the US,” says Michelle Lyle, 30, lead engineer of global product design at Ball Corporation’s UK engineering office in Tongwell. “I head up the global engineering team, focusing on designing the tooling that makes the cans. They’re already the recycling leader, at 82% in the UK, and my team works out how to optimise the tool and can designs we currently use, making them stronger, lighter, more cost-effective and even more sustainable. Engineering has turned out to be a much broader field than I ever imagined it would be – I definitely never thought I’d be designing beverage cans when I got my engineering degree!”
Here she describes a typical working week …
