Real People (Northern Ireland)
You’ve heard about engineers, where they work and what skills they need; but it’s difficult to see yourself doing a job when you can’t see anyone else doing it. We all know doctors, we’ve seen pharmacists and lawyers, accountants even, but engineers going about their jobs aren’t always obvious to us. The profiles in this next section may help you to see the real people in engineering roles, what they are like, the routes they took to progress and the exciting projects they get involved in on a daily basis.
Bernard
Growing up I was lucky enough to have two older brothers who were motor sport fanatics. From this connection I followed various race car series on TV and from this I knew I wanted to learn the basics of race car preparation and engineering − Ross Brawn, Ferrari Formula 1 Chief Engineer, is still my ‘hero’ of engineering.
Today, I have been lucky enough to have experienced the opportunity to work within the aerospace, automotive and motorsport engineering industries. I studied physics, chemistry, engineering, technical drawing and maths at A level, went through university and now work for Bombardier Aerospace in Belfast. I regularly use physics and maths at work.
My work allows me to explore new technologies and it is rewarding to see the current developments in the industry, however, finding a suitable application in production for the new technology can sometimes be difficult.
I would strongly advise anyone considering engineering as a career to carefully select the path to become qualified. There are many roads to go down. It is not necessary to start employment with a degree in engineering. I know many people who have started with other engineering related qualifications and have worked their way right up to the top of the ladder.
Neil
Engineering captured my interest as an area to study when I was 13; I built an electric go-kart then, so I was already hooked. Later I became interested in amateur radio and that led me into the field I am in now. Today at Queen’s University, Belfast, I design very advanced antennas for the likes of mobile phones and WiFi. These things are pretty advanced, and I doubt you will see them on the market for at least five years. The stuff I am doing could make your wireless network 100 times faster!
One of the most interesting practical projects I have worked on was when we designed and built a very advanced Wireless LAN circuit at 65 GHz (normally they work on 2.4 GHz). It took four of us 3 years to complete! It really was a world first, and I got to travel to the USA a few times to present the results − very rewarding!
At A level I did maths, physics, and chemistry. I found the electronic bits of physics the most useful and of course, maths was useful. You don’t always have to be super duper at maths to do engineering. If you are, great. If not, make sure you get good enough grades. I always like maths that relates to something real like engineering!
There will always be demand for engineers, there is basically nothing on this world that will work without engineers. I would not be typing this up now if it was not for the engineers who designed my PC. Locally there are great opportunities, and if you want to travel, your choices are endless.
Ali
As I enjoyed numbers and problem-solving throughout my schooling, I knew that engineering was the area in which I wanted to start my career. Today, I am working as a Bill of Material (BoM) and Configuration Engineer at F.G.Wilson (Engineering) Ltd.
I studied mathematics and physics for GCSE and A level. Both subjects proved essential for my engineering studies at university but the maths was particularly useful for the theory side of my course. Now that I am working as an Engineer, I find that the programming modules I chose at university are very useful but I still refer back to my physics notes for first principles and theories.
At University, I studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
Engineering is an exciting career that opens many doors that are inspiring and challenging. It is so varied, despite having an electrical degree I still have the option of going down other routes such as IT, business analytics, manufacturing and mechanical engineering, and that’s just within F.G.Wilson. I am very enthusiastic about engineering as a career because I have benefited from it so much and I am only in my 2nd year in Industry.
I would advise anyone who is interested in studying engineering to really go for it. Gain as much experience as you can with voluntary or paid placements and make as many contacts as possible. Use the internet to research local organisations that are aimed at students in engineering. If I had not completed my placement year, I would never have known that this job existed or that it would suit me so well.
