Although she is stationed in Singapore, she liaises with overseas counterparts and travels occasionally to contract manufacturers in Malaysia, Thailand, China and Vietnam.

"I have many opportunities to deal with overseas counterparts from different background and cultures. My experience here has been very interesting and enriching."

Ms Liao graduated with a bachelor's degree in materials engineering from Nanyang Technological University in 1999, Her interest in science subjects was sparked during her upper secondary school days, when she first dabbled with laboratory work.

"I liked being able to prove hands-on scientific theories or equations. I find laboratory sessions very interesting," she says.

"I enjoy being able to apply scientific principles to design or develop products or manufacturing processes for a final product that is able to improve people's lives."

A sense of job satisfaction has led her to stay in the job for the past seven years. "My most memorable experience was to establish a quality assurance framework from scratch," she says.

"It was especially challenging as I had to work with engineers from another organisation, build rapport and convince them I would be able to add value to their area of responsibilities.

"Having a good 'safety net' programme means that no re-touch or re-work has to be done to the final goods as they are shipped out from the factory."

HP Singapore first set up operations in the 1970s manufacturing core memories and HP12C calculators. Over the years, it has become automated, and now it engages in the entire spectrum of manufacturing activities - from conceptualisation, R&D, production and supply chain management to marketing.

Automation has given engineers like Ms Liao the opportunity to focus on value-added activities, which make the difference in the quality of finished products and how customers use them.

Engineering conjures a "boring" image to people outside the industry, but Ms Liao begs to differ. "How can a job be boring if you are dealing with new products with new technologies and new features every now and then?" she asks.

"What I love about this career is that by testing and evaluating a product design's overall effectiveness, reliability and safety, I do have a direct impact on customer satisfaction."

She believes that being "innovative, flexible and able to multi-task" will help one to adapt in the rapidly changing technological world. She says: "We need to constantly upgrade our skills to remain relevant in the changing job markets.

"There are now plenty of prospects in other countries with lower costs of manufacturing. Hence, we should also be prepared to venture to these countries when opportunities come."

The eldest of five sisters, Ms Liao is the only engineer in the family. Dispelling the myth that there is a lack of women in her profession, she says: "It really depends on which industry you are referring to. For instance, in the quality department of IPMO (Imaging & Printing Manufacturing Operations), there is no lack of female engineers. In fact, the ratio of female to male engineers is almost one to one."

"However, in industries such as marine engineering or aerospace engineering, I would think that there are still more males than females. Nevertheless, I definitely believe that women can be just as good engineers as men."

Please feel free to share the URL of this article with your friends and colleagues.