As a child, she told her teacher she wanted to become an astronut, but she was told her to consider nursing because it was more appropriate for her and "a science too". She became a space scientist and is now considered as one of the most powerful black women in London.
Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a lead space scientist for Atrium, an European subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS), where she is responsible for a variety of projects including the developement of sub-satellite sub-systems that range in price from £11 million to £200 million, a position which was never thought possible for her because of the challenges she faced as a child and later, as a teenager.
Dr. Aderin-Pocock was born in London to Nigerian immigrant parents in 1968. At age four, her parents split, and she found herself choosing between living with her father and her mother, and she choose to live with her father. She also discovered at a very early age that she had difficulties learning at the same pace as her classmates and struggled with catching up with them - a task that was even more difficult for her because she never stayed in one school for too long because of her father's inability to pay her fees and a custody battle between her parents. In fact, she went to thirteen schools in fourteen years. Because of her learning disability (a result of dyslexia), she was also held back in school and had to take remedial classes, which made her believe that there was something wrong with her. However, that all changed one day.
One day, she answered a question correctly in class, a question the other "bright" students could not answer and realized she knew more than she got credit for. It was a turning point in her life because she realized that she had it in her to succeed. With her father's help, she found her lessons were becoming easier and school for her became less boring and more fun. She later attended Imperial College to study physics because, to her, physics was everything. She loved physics so much that she decided to get a PhD in Mechanical Engineering.
Today, in addition to being a lead space scientist for the optical instrumentation group for atrium, she is a pioneering figure in communicating science to the public, and runs her own company, Science Innovation Ltd.
Other Fun Facts about Dr. Aderin Pocock:
- She had a close relationship with her father which was not without its own challenges. He briefly disowned her when she decided to move out of his place at age 30. They later patched up, and she witnessed him go through the process of losing his sight to glaucoma.
- Two of her father's disappointments in life were two motivational factors for her. Her father wanted to study medicine when he migrated to the U.K. and also wanted to have a male child before she came along. She has said she wanted to be the boy her father never had and she wanted to prove to him that she could be as good as any boy.
- She met her husband while she was studying for her Doctorate degree and had her first child at age 41.
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