Gemma Cusworth's teachings and learnings in renewables ⚡ #EnergiseHer

Interviewed and written by Marta Colina Alonso, Researcher at Brightsmith

Many of our future engineers and scientists will discover their passion for STEM during their early years, in school or university, through inspirational and motivating teachers and mentors that encourage them to pursue their dreams. This is what Gemma Cusworth, Senior Process Engineer at Supercritical, set out to achieve during her years of teaching.

Gemma's background and expertise as a chemical engineer proved very useful in teaching young girls all about physics, mathematics, and science, and she speaks highly of the future talent that will lead us to net zero. She recently made the decision to return to the industry, joining Supercritical's team working on the world's first high pressure, ultra-efficient electrolyser. It's my pleasure to share a piece of our inspiring chat together 💚

Hello Gemma! Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

My name is Gemma Cusworth, and I’m a Senior Process Engineer at Supercritical Solutions. We are reinventing the electrolyser, using a high pressure high temperature electrolyser, and it’s a new class it its own right. I have 10 years of design experience in oil and gas, taking projects from concept to completion, and I also spent 4 years teaching physics at secondary schools for girls.

How and why did you get into cleantech?

I wanted to believe more in what I was doing. I did my MEng in Manchester, and my dissertation project was on fuel cells, but back then this technology did not have the presence that it has now, so it didn’t seem like I could make a career out of it until now. Things are different now, there’s a really good chance to turn an idea into something that can benefit people, which is wonderful.

And more specifically, how did you end up at Supercritical?

At the time I was targeting companies where I could work in cleantech but also use my experience in the safe design of high pressure and high temperature hydrocarbons, which became very useful for high pressure high temperature hydrogen. It’s a technology that can be clean and run from renewable energy, so it was a perfect match between me and Supercritical.

"There’s a really good chance to turn an idea into something that can benefit people, which is wonderful"

Do you enjoy the start-up environment, in comparison to the larger industry and companies you previously worked in?

Yes! The great thing is open and honest conversation is very encouraged, people have a real can-do attitude, there’s lots of opportunities to bring new ideas, and as the company grows I can forge my own path. Some may view it as having less structure, but to me it’s all about taking initiative and I really like that.

Let’s talk about your background as a teacher, why did you decide to transition into teaching from being an oil and gas engineer?

Oil and gas has had some bumpy times as an industry, particularly the 2014-15 period, and I wanted to try something completely different. Teaching seemed like a good idea, and going back to what I mentioned about believing in what I do, it was somewhere I felt I could make an impact in.

Did you have a specific focus on teaching young girls?

I did, yes. There is a real gender imbalance in STEM, and I have benefited from some great science and mathematics teaching in my career. Because of that, I wanted to get involved and help others fulfill their potential like I felt my teachers did for me. It is also a great opportunity to improve communication skills and, on a personal note, all the different students and personalities you meet are so interesting and inspiring.

What are our future female engineers and scientists like?

During my time as a teacher, I taught some fantastic, intelligent, lively girls with really great ideas, from a very diverse group. The talent is there, I saw it first hand – it’s what happens to it through their early learning and career that is a whole other story. Young girls often feel discouraged from pursuing more technical subjects, but from my experience, there’s absolutely no reason why these girls with bright, brilliant ideas can’t stand up to the plate.

So, how can we encourage more girls and women to pursue a career in this sector?

Showing that opportunities in STEM really can change the world goes such a long way. Teach young girls that STEM is a place for ideas, collaboration, teamwork, and to not be afraid of anything. Sometimes we can fall into a kind of toxic perfectionism, where you may think you aren’t right for a job because you do not have the perfect experience but, more often than not, you can be perfect if you have the basic skills, the right attitude, and are willing and eager to learn.

"there’s absolutely no reason why these girls with bright, brilliant ideas can’t stand up to the plate"

When you say toxic perfectionism, is this something you see particularly in women or industry-wide?

I definitely see this more in women and young girls. We often think we need to be perfect in everything, rather than approaching issues by being our resilient selves, being brave, and just trying our best. Putting yourself out there is so much more important than ticking every box in a job description.

Thinking back, have you received any remarkable support through school, university, or during your career?

Mentoring is really important to me. It is so valuable to see female leadership, because it makes you think “okay, how can I get there?”. In particular, I had two great mentors during my time at KBR: Penelope Twemlow, she’s the Process Development Manager, she has always seen talent in me and given me career opportunities that were tailored to my strengths and interest; and then Mona Bhagat, she’s a Senior Technical Advisor, and such a good communicator – her problem-solving skills are so admirable and she’s not afraid of anything.

What do you love most about your company and your job?

It’s the most interesting job I’ve ever done. I love working in a team to solve a problem, and the team at Supercritical is great. There is a focus on up-and-coming research, seeing everyone else’s ideas and ventures, and how they progress has been so inspiring to me. We’re working to a demonstrator scale in 2023 and pilot scale in 2024, and after that commercialisation. There’s a lot that needs to happen, but great team effort is pushing it forward and I am so excited for it.

Think about the future of your industry – what do you see?

There’s a lot of talk of hydrogen right now, predictions that it could contribute to 8 percent of the global fuel mix, which is huge. I can see stratospheric growth, done in a safe and economic way, that is going to keep us very busy. I also hope we can achieve greater diversity, hitting the 50% target in gender diversity is also key to achieve all our other goals.

What would your one silver bullet piece of advice be for the next generation women joining cleantech?

Cleantech is a place to be brave and push the boundaries of technology. There are a lot of risks to be understood and mitigated, but it is incredibly exciting, so I would just say: why not? If you believe you can do it, and you can contribute something big, why not? You might have to take a salary cut, since a lot of cleantech companies are going off government grants or low levels of private investment, but if you are looking for a long term investment in your career, take the salary cut and take the risk. There is a great reward to doing something you believe in and over the medium term it will pay off.

Stay in touch with Gemma and her work at Supercritical here 📲