Spotlight on: Lalitha Kambhammettu, Head of Research Management Applications
I feel there is something new to learn every day and it can be from anyone we meet.
I am the Head of Research Management Applications. Along with my brilliant team (Chris Gibbs, Antonio Aliberti and Anthony Thomas), I look after the various applications that support the research lifecycle at Imperial.
What do I love about my role?
Our focus is to make the journey of a researcher (from idea to publication) smooth and world-class. What I love about my job is the variety of work that we get to do as part of this. One day we are debugging complex java/python code while another day we are with a researcher to understand their requirements to conduct secure research. The range of technologies that we work on makes everyday interesting.
How did I get here?
I finished my Master’s degree in Computer Applications in 2005 when I started my career with Oracle as an Oracle Applications Technical consultant. I grabbed opportunities to progress my career as they came along and had the honour of working with prestigious companies like ADT Security Services, Hewlett-Packard. I finally made my way to Imperial in 2014.
My future aspirations
I want to build a team which is resilient and has each others’ back. I strongly believe that the success of a manager comes from making their team successful.
My influences
If I have learnt valuable life lessons from the most experienced people in my life, I was reminded about the basics of life by my younger son, who once said to me at 3 years old, when he noticed I was getting anxious because of an issue – “Mummy, take a deep breath and relax, you will be fine!”
Managing a work-life balance
One of the most important aspects of my work-life balance is my strong family support – a loving and resilient husband, who always has my back and two adorable and co-operative children who understand that mummy may not be always able to cook them hot dinners, yet they’re still happy to just be by my side!
I enjoy early morning runs to maintain my physical and mental health. I also love cooking and hosting parties for family and friends.
My advice
My advice to aspiring women in tech is that if you have come this far, you will be great! There is nothing you can’t achieve if you commit to it. Just remember to prioritize your health and wellbeing too.
I feel there is something new to learn every day and it can be from anyone we meet. All my managers at Imperial have inspired me and a commonality among all of them was their passion for what they were doing and excellence in their work.
Want to join ICT?
We have some great and diverse roles in ICT, and we are always on the look out for the best tech talent.
If you want to join our team check out our current job vacancies.
Check out our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion pages and find out about or activities to remove barriers and create a great place to work.