Inside job: Cameron Brewster

I describe my role to non-engineers as… trying to land on Mars! I’m working on the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover and lander mission which aims to search for life on Mars. Right now, I’m focused on the mechanical aspects of the Lander (spacecraft that piggybacks the rover to the Martian surface).

The part of my job that always surprises people is… that sometimes we have to build spacecraft components in the wrong position here on Earth, so they end up in the right position once they’re in space. On earth everything is influenced by gravity (1g), which might cause parts of a spacecraft to sag or bend under their own weight. In space, there’s effectively no gravity (0g), which means these parts will “relax” into a different shape or position.

The best emoji to sum up me on a typical workday is…

The best thing I’ve introduced at my workplace is… a fresh set of eyes. I came into the aerospace industry from a different background with no assumptions about how things should be done.

In my role, I always challenge… the “we’ve always done it this way” mindset. A lot of issues come from blindly copying past work without questioning it.

At work, I’ve never been afraid to… get stuck in. Whether it’s rolling up my sleeves to help out on the ground or jumping into something I’ve never done before, I’ll say yes and figure it out as I go. I think technicians respect it when you’re hands-on and not just another engineer standing around with a clipboard. I’m also happy to speak up and throw ideas out there.

In the past year, I’ve pushed boundaries by… making the most of my time in the UK and Europe – most weekends I’ve been travelling or exploring.

I admire engineers who… can explain complex ideas clearly and simply.

At school, teachers always described me as… easily distracted but with “a lot of potential”. I’d get bored quickly if something didn’t grab me, but switch on if I was interested in the topic.

My luckiest break was… landing a job at Rocket Factory Augsburg in Germany without any aerospace experience. I started as project manager for the launch team, which eventually took me to the Shetland Islands in Scotland to help build the launch site.

The bravest thing I’ve done to get where I am today… taking on the 2019 Mongol Rally: driving 27,000km through 23 countries in a tiny 1100cc Fiat Panda. I’d quit my job and bought a one-way ticket to Europe, ready to wing it.

Best career advice I’ve received… work-life balance is a myth. If you’re working nearly as much as you’re living, something’s wrong.

I’d advise other people interested in my type of role to… say yes to opportunities. Also, to know that while working overseas can be an incredible experience, the strong foundation I built in New Zealand really helped set me up.

3 things I love about my job

• Being part of the space industry. It’s exciting to work in aerospace, a field I’ve wanted to join for a long time.
• I get to work on unique design challenges you wouldn’t normally face on Earth – like how things behave in zero gravity. It keeps the job interesting and makes you think differently.
• It’s pretty cool to be working at a company like Airbus and to collaborate with organisations like NASA or the European Space Agency.

2 reasons why I chose to study engineering

• I was always into maths and physics at school, even before I really knew what engineering was.
• I’ve always liked figuring out how things work, solving problems and building stuff. Engineering just felt like the natural next step.

1 thing I wouldn’t change about my workday

Being able to use the word Martian in serious meetings.

This article was first published in the September 2025 issue of EG magazine.