Career story Miriam Lunardi Eindhoven

A lot of engineers have developed a passion for technology at a very young age. Was that the same for you?

Miriam: "No, when I was a teenager I dreamed of becoming a hostess and traveling around the world as much and as far as possible! My secondary school was a technical / commercial college and from my third year I opted for a curriculum with languages. After a while I realized that I had to adjust my plans because they were not really realistic. I wanted to study something practical and tangible, that is also in my character, something that could be used in more places."

That’s interesting, and how did you discover engineering to be just that for you?

Miriam: "I discovered Safety Engineering during my last year of high school and I was completely enraptured, For a traditional environment as engineering it sounded like something completely new! I attended my bachelor at Insubria University, in Italy, as “Environmental and Worker Safety Engineering” and during the years I became more and more aware of the engineering world and way of thinking, which was totally unknown for me. It was challenging but at the same time very satisfying. I decided to attend the master of “Safety and Prevention Engineering in Process Industry” at Politecnico di Milano and from the start I felt excited and I knew it was the right choice for me."

These universities have given you a solid base to start pursuing a working career in engineering. How did you start working in engineering?

Miriam: "After graduation I discovered the position of Functional Safety Engineer in the automotive field, and that was my starting point. My first job was at a multinational company in Italy. I spent the first three months in Turin where their Functional Safety Team was located. From there I continued working for their customer Pirelli in Milan."

Turin and Milan, how did you make the next transition to Eindhoven, The Netherlands?

Miriam: "After one year I started to feel incomplete and I wanted to have a working experience abroad. I was contacted by a couple of automotive consultancy companies and one of them was BRACE Automotive in Eindhoven. After few calls it became clear to me that BRACE stood out from the other companies and I continued interviews only with them."

Does this mean you moved to The Netherlands because of BRACE Automotive?

Miriam: "I had already been in the Netherlands many times before because of personal travel but that’s right, I moved from Milan to Eindhoven because of my new job at BRACE Automotive!"