About Rebecca
Rebecca Champion
Computer Aided Draughting & Design Lecturer
Rebecca was 15 when she carried out experience at the design studio for the Rover Group and it was to be two weeks that would inform the rest of her working life.
At age 17 she applied to become a Modelmaking apprentice at Land Rover and was successful in this process. Rebecca spent the next 5 years training in all aspects of 3D automotive design, and discovered she had a skill for Clay Modelling or Automotive Sculpture as it is known. She graduated in 2007 and became a Junior Clay Modeller for Land Rover and worked on designing their vehicle's.
In 2009 Rebecca was asked if she wanted to go and work at the design studio at Land Rovers sister company Jaguar. She, of course, jumped at the opportunity to work at a luxury sports car company, and it was to prove to be her ticket to an even bigger career opportunity. Her time at Jaguar saw Rebecca working on the various vehicles, her best achievement being the rear end of the F-type Cabrio.
During her time working at Jaguar, she sent her CV, to Bentley, as a speculative hire and met with their talent acquisition team, and they said that there was an opening for a clay modeller at the company. Rebecca applied and was successful in this application and as she was a diverse hire too being a woman in an all male team, it was a chance for the company looking to increase it female workforce in what is a traditionally male dominated field.
Rebecca left Jaguar in the December of 2011 and started at Bentley the week before Christmas and she worked there for the next 10 years. As Bentley was only a small team she quickly became part of the family, they were called Bentley Boys and Girls.
Rebecca loved working there as it was her dream job, and was sad to leave. However during her time there she decided to leave the clay behind and progress into the digital realm, which she found that she had a knack for. She then did a course in Autodesk Alias and set to work making all the jewellery for the cars from that point onwards.
In 2020 Rebecca had her first child and was then made redundant due to the pandemic, which was a horrendous time for the automotive sector. So, she found herself job hunting and then a position came up at Glasgow Kelvin College for a part time lecture for the CAD. She applied and was successful in her application.
Rebecca had always considered entering education at some point, just not quite so soon, but life and the universe intervened.
To have an industry specialist who is also a women, working in the department, Rebecca feels that she can engage women taking STEM subjects by giving them the confidence that they need to pursue a career in the sectors that have traditionally been male dominated. She really enjoys being able to give the students the skills that they need to carry into the world of work and the mindsets to be successful in CAD tech.