Panashe Sabau-McKean Sees a World of Possibilities — for Everyone — in Engineering

Panashe Sabau-McKean interacted with hundreds of people while working as a hospital nursing assistant during her gap year between high school and college. But a patient she met on the mental health ward changed her life, just as she helped change his.

The gentleman, in his 30s, was unable to speak and barely able to walk. An infection in his body had become so severe that this leg required amputation. Sabau-McKean attended medical appointments with him, offering emotional support and helping him understand what was going on. She was there, too, on the day he was fitted with a high-tech prosthetic leg. 

“When he got his new limb, he began talking, he was walking, and his whole personality opened up — I saw what an amazing effect it had on him,” she says. “Then I started to become aware of other technologies helping people in the hospital, all kinds of things designed by engineers.” She realized that neither clinical care nor fashion design — her planned major at the time — were her true callings. Instead, she says, “I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives using my maths skills.”

Sabau-McKean went on to study mechanical engineering and now works as a systems engineer at GE Aerospace in Cheltenham, England, where she creates documentation for power control units (PCUs) used on business and general aviation jets. She’s still committed to helping people in need, and she’s passionate about encouraging people from all backgrounds to consider careers in engineering. It’s a path, she believes, that can take them wherever they want to go.

”It’s super important for me to help out others that were once in my position,” trying to establish themselves on a rewarding career path, she says. “There are opportunities in engineering for all kinds of creative people. Young people just have to know about them.”

Moving Forward While Giving Back

Sabau-McKean was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, and moved with her family to the Midlands region of England when she was a toddler. Her parents left their home country seeking new possibilities, both for themselves and their children. Though the early years in the UK weren’t always easy for her family financially, she remembers her mother, a talented seamstress and dressmaker, making time to help out neighbors in their community. “We always had loads of people around us,” she says, crediting her mother’s generous nature. “I’ve always wanted to give back because I saw my mom giving back to so many people.”

While studying mechanical engineering at the University of the West of England, she volunteered as a tutor, helping students with subjects like math and mechanics. She also continued her nursing assistant work part-time, even while completing her 13-month “industry year” experience as an intern with the Onshore Wind business at GE Vernova (then GE Renewable Energy) in Bracknell, west of London. 

It was there that Sabau-McKean learned about the company’s two-year Edison Engineering Development Program. She applied in 2021, after earning a bachelor of engineering degree, and was thrilled when she learned she was accepted via a phone call from Dan Nicholls, an early careers development manager at GE Aerospace who would become a mentor and friend. The professional guidance and peer support she received as an Edison Engineer were just what she needed, she says, to build her skills and her confidence. Sabau-McKean rotated through positions focused on power distribution systems and Open Flight Deck architecture for Dassault Falcon10X and Gulfstream aircraft. She began her current role as a systems engineer, validating and updating documentation for secondary power distribution systems, in January 2023. 

The Power of New Perspectives

Sabau-McKean says she is most inspired, and driven to give back, by her faith. “I’ve received so much from other people and from my Christian faith, so I’d love to pour a little bit of that back in the time I have on this planet,” she says. 

One of her long-term goals is to move to a developing country where she can teach engineering skills to children who might not be able to afford a formal education. “They could use these skills in a practical sense, either to find a good job or to do something that might benefit their whole village or country,” she says.

At the moment, though, she’s plenty busy juggling family life, church activities, and her career. She and her husband welcomed their first baby two years ago, and are expecting their second child this spring. 

“I’m seeing more young women come into engineering,“ she says. “I’m also seeing that a lot of new mums start moving away from the technical work.” Sabau-McKean is determined to stay on course. She appreciates the schedule flexibility offered by her managers and the support she’s found through groups like the GE Aerospace Women’s Network and the Society of Women Engineers.

Sabau-McKean feels strongly that efforts to accept and accommodate the needs of a diverse workforce are worth it for everyone involved, especially in an industry that thrives on innovation and new perspectives. “If you have a team where everyone looks the same and thinks the same and comes from the same economic background, you’re not going to get very far,” she says. “We need all kinds of people.”