Engineering Skills
I am a hard-working & responsible individual with an Engineering background. I can communicate well, both on paper and verbally, and have common sense and strong job ownership, together with the ability to both see an overview of the whole system whilst also having an understanding of the detail of how something works. I have strong visualisation skills, am organised, numerate and computer literate. Having worked on (and led) engineering teams on large complex bespoke projects in several different industries, from overall system to component design, I am looking to utilise this breadth of knowledge and experience until I am around 50, when I hope to take on a technical leadership / responsible authority type role.
I believe it is essential to have both a technical and a practical understanding of both equipment and the way it interfaces and interacts with the rest of its operating environment. A good engineer never stops learning and has the ability to turn their hand to whatever is required and at whatever level is required; breaking down complex systems into manageable levels to achieve the desired goal. Having a wide base of technical experience also encourages technologies and ideas to develop within a team.
I also believe that experience is best shared, and work hard to communicate well, especially with younger team members. I enjoy the feeling of improving someone’s capability through informal on-the-job training as well as facilitating good team performance through ensuring the right person is in the right role and provided with the right guidance and skills & training where needed.
General Skills
- All design phases from requirement capture, through concept design (incl scoping hand calcs), optioneering & downselection, detail design, analysis (incl substantiation analysis), procurement, manufacture, assembly & testing, commissioning, in-service support and decommissioning.
- Documentation, from requirement & procurement specifications, to testing specifications, design substantiation reports, installation & operation manuals, and fault & product development reports.
- Leading a team of designers & engineers & specialists, including all design tasks (CAD, analysis, documentation, managing interfaces, etc) as well as managing workload, cost & schedule.
- HAZOP (on both components and systems), Risk Assessments, FMEA and Permit to Work systems.
- Working in highly regulated environments and industries.
Specific Skills
- Nuclear industry experience including Class 1 handling equipment and facilities.
- Extensive experience of pressure systems (air, oil and water based) with pressures up to 20000 psi.
- Pressure containing equipment including use of ASME B31.1 & B31.3 piping codes and PED.
- Good understanding of corrosion & corrosion protection systems and associated material science.
- Good understanding of radiation effects on mechanisms and materials.
- Semi-automatic controls for complex PLC systems, and associated sensors & mechanisms.
- Large remotely operated containment boundaries (reactor vessels ports, submarine torpedo doors).
- Design of components and systems resistant to shock events (submarine systems wrt depth charges, seismic events).
Computer & Software
- Experienced in most common applications (MS Office, MathCAD, TK Solver, AutoCAD, etc).
- Information management systems (many different examples).
- Can use 2D & 3D CAD (AutoCad, CATIA, Solidworks, NX4) with the associated DMS, and FEA / CFD / heat transfer systems (though I usually work with a team of designers & analysts, so won’t be as quick as someone who works with it full-time)
Qualifications
Sept 96 – July 99 Bath University MSc in Fluid Power Systems,
Oct 92 – July 96 Bath University B Eng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering
Sept 88 – July 92 Culford School, Suffolk Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry (2 A’s, 2 B’s)
Employment History
Jan 21 – Current Nuvia (Contract)
Working as principal engineer in the mechanical team, setting out a new facility. Responsible for pieces of lifting and handling equipment, checking the documentation of many other pieces of equipment, and integration of mechanical equipment into the facility and processes.
This project was an aggressive timescale piece of work, taking the project from a concept design (RIBA-2/3) through RIBA-4 (and in the case of much of the equipment, well into RIBA-5). Producing manufacturing level documentation, assisting DSR authors in creating the substantiation reports, checking accuracy of the content, and providing all reports, schedules and calculations as required to support the DSR.
Nov 16 – Jane 21 UKAEA – RACE (Contract)
Working as a strand leader on DEMO Remote Maintenance, jointly responsible for the integration of maintenance into the design and overall configuration of a future fusion power station, and the integration of the requirements of the various stakeholders for each piece of in-vessel hardware into the scheme designs of the modular maintenance equipment developed. Part of a team of up to 25 locally and much larger across the EU-wide project.
This role (port maintenance) was looking in particular at the removal and replacement of all in-vessel hardware where manned access would not be possible, alongside how this impacted the building as a whole.
This involved close working with an international team distributed across Europe, both within WPRM (the remote maintenance work package) and also in the wider project (other work packages, from divertors to limiters to blankets to diagnostics & control to vacuum pumping & tritium to heating to containment & structures, etc) as well as with the programme and project management unit in Garching (Munich).
The goal of this early phase design work was to explore the limits of what is safely achievable given the design constraints (in particular, the impact of the space needed in the plant configuration, as maintenance and simplicity will be design-driving criteria in any commercially viable future power station). Consideration was always given to how a nuclear regulator would react to the design schemes.
Overall, the work included risk-based prioritisation of both technology development and integration activities on the baseline configuration, alongside design of specific equipment. The latter included identifying the system requirements, early scoping designs and downselection, selection of appropriate COTS components within the design to de-risk, and validation by calculation and appropriate analysis. Management of the workload of the team, the delivery and schedule, and meeting the required levels of reporting were also included in the role.
Whilst the direct reporting of this role was very small (a team of up to 4) the need to project influence over the wider team was very wide-ranging, integrating and guiding the activities of many diverse teams towards a common goal. The good implementation of Systems Engineering was a key part of this role, as was a significant effort to ensure a good team working environment was maintained wherever possible. Significant integration of remote team working was required, as well as a fair amount of international travel.
Feb 14 – Dec 15 VerdErg, now AF Global Connectors (Contract)
Working on a variety of projects, often concurrently, on diverless subsea pipeline connections and associated tooling & installation systems.
The roles were very technically focussed (calculations, documentation, checking of others drawings / documents / calculations) and also included customer facing reviews and meetings, often at short notice at client facilities abroad. Normally working on several concurrent projects, with relatively small project teams (6-10 people), whilst making best use of the company expertise across multi-disciplinary product-focussed teams.
I was also involved with several R&D projects, from a “big bore” (48”) connector to a top entry jumper arrangement, linking wellheads with production and injection manifolds and expanding the company portfolio.
I took a break from July to October 2015 to compete at the World Championships, but was asked to return on getting back into the country (despite the oil price crash of 2014) to complete projects affected by redundancies.
Jan 12 – Feb 14 Nuvia (Contract)
Working as part of a team (varying in size from 4 to 12 over the various phases of the project) taking a nuclear class 1 handling system (lifting equipment) from concept design review through scheme design to detail design and substantiation.
This involved organising designers risk assessments and implementing subsequent recommendations, taking on responsibility for sections of the design substantiation report, and ensuring suitable optioneering and ALARP reports, statements and assessments had been generated to substantiate the design. Additional tasks included initiating, gaining client buy-in and direct management & control of proof-of-concept trials and risk assessments (and subsequent reports); conducting an FMEA on the scheme and detail designs; detailing the pneumatic and mechanical design; scoping and substantiation calculations; installation strategy; managing external interfaces; and being point of contact with both client and suppliers: in person, by phone and by e-mail as required.
Sept 06 – June 11 Weir Strachan & Henshaw, now Babcock Marine (Contract)
After 4 months as a Senior Engineer, I was given the role of Lead Engineer for the mechanical & hydraulic & pneumatic control systems of the weapon handling & discharge equipment on a NATO submarine. This involved taking the equipment from early system design through to completion of detail design, in parallel with the equipment being controlled, using a risk-based design approach due to the complexity of the project. This role was responsible for the performance of a team of between 6 & 12 engineers, and integration of their work into the larger project team (of up to 85) whilst managing budget and delivery.
After this project, I was tasked with supporting the acceptance trials and documentation acceptance for the weapon handling equipment on the Astute class submarine. This required a full review of some elements of the design, the drawing & documentation packs. This project also involved a number of investigations, where faults were reported either in sea trials or during initial build, which required resolving. These varied from mechanical issues (bearings, mechanical structures, mechanisms, etc) as well as internally within hydraulic and pneumatic components and sub-assemblies. Some of this work required testing & qualification, both of which I was directly involved with – both hands-on and as responsible engineer, on site and at supplier premises.
Most of the equipment in both projects was inboard in a military submarine environment. However, I also had significant involvement with outboard systems as well as shore-based embarkation systems.
The roles required close contact and good communication & co-ordination with both my client’s customers (Navantia, a Spanish ship-builder; and BAE Systems, a UK ship-builder) and the end users (Armada Espanola and the Royal Navy). It also involved working closely with suppliers, to ensure the systems met all requirements.
I was also used to peer review solutions, fault-find & rectify problems in other equipment throughout the company. This included: nuclear handling systems; pressure equipment (both individual components & whole systems); other marine defence projects (both UK and foreign, surface and subsea); subsea renewable power generation projects. I was also used to assist with the MPDS scheme and training, to help train graduates and new starts in specific technical skills, from hydraulics & hand-calcs to stress analysis & material selection.
Sept 00 – March 06 Vetco Gray Controls (was ABB Offshore Systems)
Senior Mechanical Engineer and Subsea Control Module (SCM) Specialist involved with engineering, R&D and qualifying all subsea controls related equipment produced by the company. This role held technical responsibility for the company’s core product, and meant I was involved with the integration of the product range into many concurrent projects. I was also involved with R&D, commissioning & installation and qualification work (including placements in Aberdeen and Rio de Janeiro), setting inspection requirements, failure investigation & reporting, coordinating with suppliers and customers, including signing off non-conformances, management of interfaces and the implementation of PED legislation. The role included management of the technical aspects of the projects, in a multi-disciplinary environment alongside electrical & software specialists and systems & project teams.
I am familiar with the requirements of the offshore industry, and have a good understanding of mechanisms of corrosion (subsea, splash zone and topsides) and cathodic protection, and have experience of subsea coating systems. I have a good understanding of the effects of harsh environments and pressure on equipment – both internally (pressure containing, pneumatic and hydraulic) and externally (hyperbaric) as well as the temperature requirements of downhole conditions.
Feb 00 – Sept 00 Cross Manufacturing
Working in a small department involved with water filtration products. Tasks included: Running an R&D test facility for development of self-cleaning water filters (both industrial and drinking-water filter products); developing product design; testing for reliability, endurance and effectiveness under worst-case conditions.
Non-Professional Positions of Responsibility & Achievements
I have represented Great Britain, England, Somerset, and British Universities for target shooting, and have competed individually at several World Championships. I have also competed at dinghy and yacht racing, and have also competed at a World Championship level in this sport (albeit without the same level of results!) I also coach and assist with training of beginners and development of County and National Squad level competitors and find many elements of sports psychology to be a most useful transferrable skill, eliciting the best performance possible under challenging conditions.
I have held various positions of responsibility, ranging from Treasurer of a Great Britain target shooting tour to Canada (24 travelling team members and an 18 month training programme); various committee positions on both sailing and target shooting clubs; managing team fund-raising activities & producing fundraising brochures; Treasurer, Captain & Chairman of various University sports clubs; to House & School Prefect & Captain of Sailing at school. The transferrable skills from these roles include being able to resolve many differing requirements, and differing opinions & needs of various stakeholders, the roles being akin to herding cats.
At school I achieved Bronze Medallion for lifesaving, was a qualified first aider, and completed Bronze, Silver & Gold Duke of Edinburgh awards. At university I was awarded with the Bath University Full Blue awards for international performance in both Rifle Shooting and Sailing.
Target Shooting:
I have been involved with target shooting for nearly 3 decades years. During this time I have started up clubs (including overseeing the legislative aspects), and been involved with the rebuilding and re-certification of ranges (also dealing with the MoD specifications for range construction and subsequent inspections). I am currently on the committee of several clubs. I have represented England since 2006, and Great Britain since 2008. I have produced & edited the brochures for several touring teams (40-plus page glossy sponsorship & advertising brochures) and been involved in the production of websites and blogs for these tours.
The ability to reliably perform well under pressure, and the dedication & psychological awareness required to achieve & maintain these standards, are valuable professional skills which transfer well. I also feel that the ability to communicate a set of complex ideas to a newcomer is another useful skill in the professional arena.
DIY and Maintenance:
I usually maintain my own cars & bikes and most things around the home, and have been involved in the design & development of various pieces of equipment relating to my interests, in addition to my professional experience. Some of these are now in commercial production.
Photography:
This has been very useful in documenting some of the testing & fault investigations I have carried out. I enjoy capturing fault conditions that are challenging to record, as well as landscapes & travelogue style photography.
Other Interests:
I enjoy the creativity of cooking, gardening and landscaping, and value getting away to remote areas such as Dartmoor, the Brecon Beacons & the Highlands to hike or cycle. I find sports & performance psychology particularly rewarding, especially as this creates transferable skills applicable to all sides of life, not just sport.
I take a pride in knowing how to use a piece of equipment or software properly, and being able to extract the best from it, and have good general computer literacy (including building my own PC’s).