"Every country I’ve visited thus far has shown me that our world is beautiful and precious."

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Anna Ramshaw

Born in Salem, Oregon, 1977
B.S. Mechanical Engineering and B.A. French

University of Texas at Austin, 2001

Field of work

Manufacturing Engineering
Sustaining Engineering

Areas of interest outside work

Reading, music, film, art, roller blading, outrigger (Hawaiian-style) canoeing, hiking, dancing and pretty much everything else I’ve tried. I teach English to adult students, am starting to get involved in politics, love learning languages and traveling.

I was born in Salem, Oregon on September 17, 1977. We moved to New York City when I was almost three and to Brookline, Massachusetts (just outside of Boston) when I was eight, so I grew up primarily in urban areas with public transportation.

I graduated from Brookline High School and then decided to move to a different part of the country for university: Texas. I attended the University of Texas at Austin for a total of six years, including a year of study in France at the Ecole Centrale de Lille, a French engineering school. I received my BS in Mechanical Engineering and my BA in French in May of 2001. After graduating, I spent a month traveling in Vietnam with two friends. I started working at Schlumberger in Sugar Land, Texas on June 28, 2001.

My first job at Schlumberger was as a Manufacturing Engineer in Logging While Drilling (LWD). I learned a lot about manufacturing and about the importance of effectively communicating design intent through engineering drawings. After eight months, I was transferred to LWD Sustaining, so now I am a Sustaining Engineer. Sustaining works closely with Manufacturing to ensure that the current tools work properly, fixing any problems that come up, and improving the initial tool designs. Right now, my main project is to redesign a handling tool, but I also help solve other problems as they arise. I enjoy the problem-solving aspect of engineering, especially when I have to work with a variety of people in order to find the best solution.

My first memorable encounter with science and technology (apart from science museums) was seeing Halley’s Comet on a computer screen. My mom signed me up for a group called Great Girls in Science, and on one of our field trips, we got to watch Halley’s Comet as a computer-generated image. I wasn’t able to see the real thing, because it had been too cloudy where we were, but I ended up seeing the comet, after all. I thought it was amazing that the comet returns every 76 years, and that it would be technically possible for me to see it again in my lifetime (if I live until I’m at least 85, that is!).

I have a wide variety of interests and hobbies. I adore reading, music, film, and art. As for sports, I like roller blading, outrigger (Hawaiian-style) canoeing, hiking, dancing, and pretty much everything else I’ve tried. I teach English to adult students who are from non-English speaking countries, which is very fun and rewarding for me. I am also starting to get involved in politics, because I would like to help solve the problems I see in the world around me. Finally, I love learning languages and traveling. Every country I’ve visited thus far has shown me that our world is beautiful and precious.