Haihui Yan is another of our fantastic AgriFoRwArdS CDT students who is currently studying her MSc at the University of Lincoln. Haihui will be going on to the University of Cambridge in October to begin studying her PhD.

To inspire and celebrate women, Haihui told us about her experience of becoming involved in a STEM subject.

“I was always interested in maths and physics at high school hence, I chose to study Mechanical Engineering at university. Studying engineering really allowed me to appreciate the practical applications and potential impact on society of engineering which goes well beyond just theory. Following several University projects, I developed a passion for research into new solutions for practical problems. These positive experiences really motivated me to pursue a PhD. I applied to the AgriFoRwArdS CDT because Agri-food Robotics is both a very interesting and important field of research. Moreover, being part of the CDT provides me with many more opportunities such as networking and working with industrial partners. 

I am very fortunate that I have never felt my gender has limited my opportunities or that I have been treated unfairly because of my gender. I feel the importance has always been upon the quality of my work. Therefore, I would really encourage women who are interested in STEM subjects in particularly Agri-food robotics, to pursue their interests in agricultural robotics. Agri-food robotics is a very interdisciplinary subject, and I am confident those interested will be able to learn useful knowledge.  

I hope that my research will be able to alleviate some of the agri-food challenges through novel Agri-food robotics, and that my contributions can be integrated into the wider field of Agri-food robotics and allow further advancements.”