Yelena Elysia Estepa

At school, Yelena Estepa dreamed of becoming a pilot. She’s now an engineer in Bentley’s R&D Whole Vehicle Analysis department - and the sky’s the limit for her career.

Yelena sat in the passenger seat of a Bentley, looking at an iPad.

Career choices

Farewell Philippines

Placements and achievements

The graduate scheme

As the daughter of an electrical engineer, it’s perhaps natural that Yelena Estepa gravitated to the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) at school in Manila. “In the Philippines, you choose what they call a strand for years 11 and 12, the equivalent of the UK’s A-Levels. I like working with my hands and found out I was better at learning by doing things. That directed me into engineering.”

Originally, she had an ambition to become a pilot or aeronautical engineer, and found a degree course at De Montfort University, 10,000 km from home. “It was around the time of COVID, which made things extra difficult.” Having proved to De Montfort both her fluency in English and her academic ability, she received an unconditional offer and started a new life in the UK.

Yelena could have switched to aeronautical engineering in her second year at university but decided not to. “The more that I got into it, the more I enjoyed mechanical engineering. I ended up staying on the same course until I graduated.”

During her studies, she completed a placement at Bentley, as well as helping to run the De Montfort Formula Student racing team, achieving a best-ever result of 6th out of 97 teams.

Having proved herself as an industrial placement, and winning Bentley’s Industrial Placement of the Year award, Yelena was fast-tracked to the graduate programme. “At Bentley, when you're an industrial placement student you can be nominated for the graduate scheme. If you did a really good job and they want you back in the company, your managers submit a nomination with you. By the time I finished my industrial placement I had already been interviewed by hiring managers for the graduate roles. From there, then I secured a role in R&D and then I just had to wait till my degree finished to come back.”

After graduating from De Montfort University (with First Class Honours) in 2024, Yelena joined Bentley on a two-year graduate course.

Yelena sat at a desk, typing on a laptop.

Graduate programme

Diverse roles

Outreach

Charge Forward Behaviours

During her time in the graduate programme, Yelena’s placements took her across the Crewe campus. She has worked in Internal Communications, R&D, the Torcal product line, and the assembly lines for Continental GT and Flying Spur. She also worked directly for Matthias Rabe, the board member for R&D. “Each of these placements has been great for connections, because you meet a lot of people across the business. It makes the job easier as well, because if I'm working on a new task, I know who to go to and if they're not the right person, they'll direct me to the correct one.”

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that technical knowledge is only part of being an engineer. Building relationships, understanding different perspectives and communicating effectively are just as important as solving the technical problem itself.”

Graduates are often the best ambassadors for the company when talking to students about a career at Crewe. “I’ve attended events at schools, encouraging students to consider STEM subjects and creating tasks for students so that they get a taste of what it's like to work in manufacturing.”

Yelena also represented Bentley at the Formula Student 2025 event at Silverstone. “One international student talked to me about being the only woman in an all-male team. She had experienced attitudes that were different compared to the men and wasn't sure if she still wanted to go into manufacturing.”

For their one-to-one chat, Yelena invited the student to join her in the privacy of a Flying Spur on the Bentley display. “As I told her, I can't speak for other employers. But in my experience at Bentley, I'm treated in exactly the same way as my male colleagues.”

Her two years on the graduate programme saw Yelena win another award. “I won the Charge Forward Behaviours award. Bentley’s Charge Forward Behaviours define the values of Bentley and what is expected of you as a Bentley colleague. The panel recognised that my behaviours and achievements went above and beyond.”

“If I'm honest, confidence has been my biggest challenge throughout the programme. I've always been willing to take on opportunities and responsibility, but I often questioned whether I was capable enough.” Having won two awards and made a positive contribution in each of her placement roles, Yelena is learning to accept that she’s more than capable of meeting every challenge.

Looking ahead

The Bentley culture

Turning fear into excitement

After completing her graduate programme with flying colours, Yelena is now setting out on a new journey, in a permanent role within Whole Vehicle Analysis. “My responsibilities include technical problem solving, data analysis, cross-functional collaboration and process improvement. It’s a wide-ranging role.”

“What makes Bentley unique is the level of responsibility and trust given to people early in their careers. I’ve been able to contribute to projects with real business impact, and gain exposure to areas of the business that I never imagined when I first joined. Right from the start, I’ve had managers who gave me real problems to solve, and colleagues who put me forward for things before I'd have put myself forward. The culture here encourages people to learn, challenge themselves and improve.”

Away from the pressures of work, Yelena describes herself as a homebody and enjoys cooking. “Chinese or Japanese cuisine is my preference. Even an egg fried rice would make me happy!”

Yelena considers herself an introvert, but she’s gaining confidence in her abilities every day. “After everything I've experienced, like going from the Philippines to the UK during COVID, finding my own place to live in the UK, I've always been scared that something might go wrong. But there’s a quote in my head that I keep with me, and it sounds a little bit cheesy, but it says: turn fear into excitement.”

“So instead of thinking that I'm scared, I think that I'm excited for the next challenge. And that helps me push myself further.”

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