From intern to CAD Engineer at JLR Hungary, Dorka talks us through her journey.
Hear from Dorka, CAD Engineer at JLR Hungary. She talks about her journey, her passion for engineering and the work still to be done around women in engineering.
More and more women are joining JLR’s engineering teams. One of the newest is Dorka Bösze, who works on Defender at JLR’s technical centre in Budapest, Hungary. Dorka joined in February 2023, after working as an intern. Like most JLR engineers – male and female – she was interested in science and maths at school. “I always liked making things and DIY, although I didn’t necessarily want to go into cars.”
She studied Industrial Design Engineering at university in Budapest. “It was a course like mechanical engineering but with design included too. It taught me a lot in areas like 3D modelling. The course included cars and one of our projects was designing a vehicle cockpit. So, I started drawing cars and found it very interesting.”
Most of Dorka’s fellow students were men. “There were only five women on the course. But my parents were supportive, even though they had no scientific interests. I was the first member of my family to work in this very masculine industry. I think they were very proud.”
Dorka’s internship at university was with JLR in Budapest.
“They were very friendly. JLR also gave me the opportunity to do the thesis on the subject I really wanted.”
Her subject was door trim, specifically redesigning the Defender to include a bigger door map pocket capable of holding a one-litre bottle (which the early versions of new Defender could not: the latest version can). A 3D model was printed, which is still in JLR’s Budapest technical office.
JLR offered her a full-time job as a CAD (computer-aided design) engineer when her thesis was complete and she graduated. She now works on Defender door trim, including grab handles and armrests, building CAD models for the future. She works with plastics, textiles and other materials, on CAD and other 3D modelling programmes.
JLR’s Hungarian technical engineering office works on body and chassis engineering, and supports the nearby Nitra production centre in Slovakia, where Defender and Discovery are manufactured. It also supports the Gaydon technical HQ in the UK, and works alongside other JLR engineering centres in the US, China and Ireland. Hungary has a strong automotive engineering heritage, with several major players engineering and building cars there.
“I find cars fascinating because there is so much to them. Cars are at the top of the engineering and design pyramid. It’s the most difficult and interesting thing to build and design. So many people work together on what becomes an incredibly complex working machine.”
She says it’s difficult to build a luxury car like the Defender that is also tough and extremely versatile. The right door trim pays a big part in that. “Toughness, solidity and no squeaks and rattles are crucial.”
Dorka will admit that the Defender is a very masculine car, muscular and strong. “Yet it is very appealing to women. That appeal is really important.” In the body engineering section of JLR’s Budapest technical centre, Dorka is one of two female engineers, out of 40. It’s still a man’s world, even if it is changing.
Yet, says Dorka: “I always feel treated as an equal. JLR is like a big family.”