Throughout March, Hitachi Rail women across the globe are raising their voices to celebrate and amplify their contribution to the Hitachi business, our customers, and society.

Here Avantika Das, Quality Lead with Hitachi Rail shares how having the courage and confidence to “raise her voice” has helped her forge an exciting and rewarding career in engineering – a field traditionally and still largely dominated by men.

Equity in Work and Life

I want to live and work in a society where an International Women’s Day is no longer required to advocate for gender equity because it exists. However, I recognise that we still have a long way to go and companies that inspire inclusion like Hitachi Rail are leading by example.

This was one of the major factors which inspired my decision to move to Australia from India to join the Hitachi Rail team in July 2023. It’s because I know from experience the importance of an environment in which you are empowered to be your best.

As an Indian woman, I consider myself fortunate to have been surrounded by both women and men who have encouraged and supported my passions and ambitions throughout my life.

My grandmother and mother are strong minded, empowered women and my father and husband respect and treat women as equals.

This has given me the confidence to chase my goals, work hard, learn and have faith in my knowledge and skills. And raise my voice and speak my mind – now and in the early stages of my career when I was often the only young female engineer in meetings with over 20 men.

This is why I believe everyone – men and women – play a role in creating an inclusive society and workplaces where women’s careers thrive, stereotypes are challenged, and diversity is valued.

(E)Quality Role Model

Just as my family provided strong role models, I have become a role model for other young women in my family and in the workplace. Many of my former colleagues are still in touch, seeking my opinions and knowledge, while my relatives starting out in their studies and careers look to me for guidance. Three of them are following in my footsteps and becoming engineers!

I have also found an inspirational role model, leader and mentor in Hitachi Rail’s Director Signalling & Turnkey Quality Assurance for the global business, Ilaria Stanzione.

Ilaria is proof that here are no roadblocks to success within Hitachi Rail. Seeing Ilaria and women in leadership positions across Hitachi, lifts and inspires me.

As an Electronics & Instrumentation Engineer, I have specialised in Quality and Project Management for the last 13 years, I am also relishing the opportunity to work on one of Australia’s most significant rail projects.

As the Quality Lead for Hitachi Rail’s delivery of the ETCS for the Cross River Rail Project in Brisbane, Australia, I am responsible for quality planning, assurance, and control across every phase of the project – from design, construction & installation, to testing & commissioning and the through life support phase.

My team member, Gladys Mulo, and I enjoy the level of support we receive from Ilaria, who is based in Italy, and Hitachi Rail Australia’s Quality Manager, Rudyanto (Rudy) Chong.

Ilaria and Rudy are invested in our success and the success of our project. They ensure we have the benefit of Hitachi Rail’s well-established quality guidelines, but also give us the freedom and flexibility to adapt them to suit our unique project requirements.

Together, we’re adding value to the project, and the people we’re working alongside to deliver it, through the quality systems, checks and balances we are implementing.

Inspiring Words

Words of wisdom my grandmother shared with me as a child continue to guide me in my approach to work and life. It is a quote from the Bhagawad Gita: “Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma phaleshou kada chana” which means you have control over your actions and not the results.

This has always motivated me to keep going, despite any obstacles and roadblocks, be positive and resilient, knowing the results I achieve are the consequences of my hard work and the choices I make.

My message to my fellow women of Hitachi: “Hard work always pays off. Keep up the excellent work you do here at Hitachi and don’t shy away from expressing yourselves. Do what you love to do and do it with the utmost passion.”