ONE of a small number of female engineers working for Seagate Technology in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, Anne Ryan sees an increase in the number of women choosing engineering as a career over the past 10 years. She sees her own experience at school as an example of how the scene has changed.

Ryan went to Scoil Mhuire Secondary School in Ballinasloe, Co Galway. She loved studying science at junior level, in particular physics. Unfortunately she was not able to study physics in senior level although it was her favourite subject.

"We had only biology and maths for Leaving Cert," she says. "It was a pity I liked the science side of things, but I overcame it. It was a disadvantage but at college they take the outlook that you've never studied it before. A lot of girls' schools have changed now and offer physics and chemistry at Leaving Cert and more women are getting involved in engineering. More are encouraged to go into science and engineering."

After the Leaving Cert in 1989, Ryan went to Galway RTC to do a national certificate in science instrument physics. "Yes, I did work hard. You work towards your certificate. In first year you do physics, chemistry, biology and maths. Then you pick one and you work towards that. I picked physics. If you get a certain grade you can continue on to the diploma."

Ryan get a merit in her overall result and went on to study for a diploma in technology industrial instrumentation. Her third year was very interesting and challenging, she says. "We did an awful lot of practical work, you really get involved in electronic instrumentation and control. You'd interface a lot of instruments to computers and then control them from the computers."

She also got a merit in her diploma. The RTC did not have a further year for students who wanted to continue to degree level, so Ryan decided to move on. After graduation she went to work for two years at the National Microelectronic Research Centre in UCC.

After this experience in the field, it was time to carry on with her studies. She went to Cork RTC to do a degree in applied physics and instrumentation. "It was a very intensive course, it was very tough, especially after leaving work and having to go back to college and be a student again."

The year started in September with a month of intensive study and then an exam. This month, she explains, "was a follow on course from the diploma, you had to pass and then you moved on, it was a stepping stone from one to the other." There were about 20 in the class, including four women. She did general science in first year.

After completing this degree year, Ryan went back to the research centre in UCC for a number of months in the summer of 1996. Then she set about some "serious job hunting." She began working at Seagate earlier this year in January. "I'm a failure analyst engineer," she explains. "My boss is a female engineer that's quite good. There are women in the area. There are not an awful lot but there are some females here."

During the manufacture of hard disc drives for personal computers, errors can occur. Ryan investigates the root cause of the problem. "I find the root problems that occur along the line anywhere in the production process and provide solutions. I find the problem and then work on it. We're like a support team for the production engineers. We relate the information back to them.

"It's never repetitive or boring. No way. We build so many different products that you're always working on a different product."