Started off as a programmer and slowly got more responsibility till I was a product manager with about 15 people working for me. Then got made
redundant. Then got a job as a project manager and got made redundant. Then went contracting as an IT project manager. Had some good contracts, had
some stressful contracts.
Currently wishing I was permie and doing the annual reviews etc cause I'm sick of the long days in the office and 2 hours driving a day, then
not really seeing the family (or garage).
Started off my career building theme park rides and got made redundant, Odd jobbed doing landscape gardening and then moved into exhibition design.
Been doing that for fifteen years. Its stressful and full on but very very varied. Two days ago I was building a 'Dinosaur Encounter',
today I am building a Pitch 'n' Putt game for the Scottish Open.......
Photo Archive
Building: Xflow MK "book" chassis + mods. Built
posted on 27/6/19 at 02:44 PM
Served engineering apprenticeship with the then British Motor Corp. (Nuffield apprentice). Stayed on for a year, (you can get bored working on diesel
engines, when they're based on a defunct design!). Moved on, but within motor industry, finishing up as combined design/development engineer. So
some time working in the office, with plenty of CAD work, and fair amount of time down in the workshop, for development work. That involved loads of
product testing. Mix that lot in with supporting (& sometimes working with) joint venture associate companies and licensees.
Involuntarily retired 18 years ago, which enabled me to spend my available time on the Locost project. When not helping out offspring, wife,
gardening, holidaying, being "low-cost" child-minders for the offsprings' offspring, rebuilding a website for a classic vehicle club
(and then running it!!), and meeting up with similarly retired ex-colleagues, to moan about much of the foregoing.
Still better than HAVING to work!
Work-in-Progress: Changed to Zetec + T9. Still trying!!
Started out in aircraft manufacture working at Bae working on 146/RJ/RJX and the ill fated nimrod mra4. Then did 4 years base maintenance then 13
years and counting out on the line. Some days spent drinking coffee and very little happening and others you're on the go for 12hrs+. Absolutely
love the job and the opportunities it has brought.
Can't see me doing anything else to be honest, although I'd love to get off night shifts.
Started off as a storeman in 1989 managing electronic parts in and out, progressed through product test and then design and now I own the business and
employ about 20+ people.... Not what I expected or ever planned to do but it pays the bills!
Photo Archive
Building: confidence and miles with smiles
posted on 27/6/19 at 10:31 PM
Great thread, very interesting.
With over 50 replies in 2 days it shows that this forum is busy but people ( like me) only engage when we want to. We are all in here regularly
though!
So my turn. First proper job ( after pizza hut delivery and telesales) was as an autoelectrician. I loved it, did max power / revs feature cars,
cruises. Top end trackers and alarms. All of that stuff.
I then became a Rehabilitation Engineer like Abe. Which is weird as it's a small industry so I probably knew him!!
I left there and now work for a global medical devices company as a product designer in R&D. Another cracking job doing mechanical engineering
style work with manufacturing, project managment and human factors engineering thrown in. At 36 im starting to feel a change coming on. I quite fancy
starting my own company's selling a novel consumer product I have tucked up my sleeve. I'll secure a patent, seek investment and give it
my best shot at trying to become a millionaire.
Anyone fancy backing me?!
[Edited on 27/6/19 by bi22le]
Track days ARE the best thing since sliced bread, until I get a supercharger that is!
I studied maths at uni then switched to mech eng in 2nd year. Once I graduated in 2004 I entered the oil and gas industry working in oil refineries
and storage facilities. I'm now an inspection engineer at an oil refinery. Working on asset inspection, design, repair and maintenance, for
pipes, pressure vessels, reactors, heat exchangers, fired heaters. My main area of expertise though is storage tanks. Quite a niche area but it has
taken me all over the world and to some really interesting places.
Photo Archive
Building: a list of problems for Alex to sort out!
posted on 28/6/19 at 12:50 PM
Clinician working within the healthcare technology sector.
Spent a few years working in the NHS and then moved into private sector working for software development firm as Subject Matter Expert > Product
Owner > Product Manager > Solutions Director.
We gain knowledge faster than we do wisdom!
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in
sideways, thoroughly used, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming... "f*ck, what a trip!"
Photo Archive
Building: TR7 Triton green TR7 Silver The Ninja Jago
posted on 28/6/19 at 12:52 PM
And now for something completely different
A degree in agriculture with special interest in pigs gave me 10 years running huge commercial pig farm, lecturing about pigs in a college then a
change of location meant 5 years on the road selling pigs to farmers.
Took a year out and retrained as a nursery and primary teacher. Taught infants for 10 years using the long holiday s to work on a variety of kit car
projects and this coincided with my own children. Moved up to secondary level and ran the Technology department in a private school for 17 years.
Retired last year aged 60 still got 3 spare hobby cars and 7 lathes and am writing this from a ship cruising the Baltic
I miss the facilities I had at work and the space as well as the banter from the lads and older pupils. I don’t miss the political interference and
managers who had no understanding of how a practical subject is taught!!
Atb
Mike
Beetroot. I'm in the beetroot business. I'm a supplier, to M&S, Sainsbury's, Tesco, all the big stores. Both types. Crinkly and
balls. Beetroot's been very good to me.
Photo Archive
Building: Suzuki G13B Powered Locost, on the road
posted on 29/6/19 at 04:16 PM
After five years of being a Formula 1 engineer (Simulators and driver training) I am now a robotics engineer making high throughput machines for
laboratories. Love the work, the people and the extra time it gives me with friends/family/garage.
When it comes to car setup and tyres there is very little I don't know and I was fortunate to work with some really big names. Sadly the
internet will always call you a fool no matter your experience
Photo Archive
Building: Have you seen the cost of kits in NZ?
posted on 4/7/19 at 10:53 PM
Structural Draftsman.
Started on the board in 1984, moved onto MicroStation and Autocad and recently Revit
,left the UK in '96 to live and work in Hong Kong, then Australia and currently in New Zealand.
quote:Originally posted by Benzine
Beetroot. I'm in the beetroot business. I'm a supplier, to M&S, Sainsbury's, Tesco, all the big stores. Both types. Crinkly and
balls. Beetroot's been very good to me.
Brilliant !!
What a way to end a post ................. Beetroot's been very good to me
I suppose I should put mine up - aircraft industry since leaving college - mostly military jets (20+ years) but now in civil nacelles for the last
18 years (mostly thrust reversers). Background is manufacturing and materials R&D. Really struggling to start my build but when I do (probably
when I retire in 5ish years) it will be a Midlana with an as yet undefined engine.
Currently keeping myself busy in the garage with a VW T25 restoration (engine is in a million pieces and the mig is being worked hard), an old 1 litre
Pug 205 that I think needs a gearbox rebuild, keeping my VW T5 in a suitable condition for me and 'er indoors to attend various beer & music
festivals and repairing youngest lads Golf TDi which has just lost oil pressure ..... and the most satisfying bit ...... building 100cc 2-stroke kart
engines for a variety of people. Busy, busy, busy
Started my career as a fitter/ toolmaker working on Tobacco machinery, Several jobs later got into electronics assembly and spent 25+ years in
electronics manufacturing at engineering/ management levels.
After several career moves ended up working for a Tier1 supplier for automotive Mechatronics in quality management roles (designing and manufacturing
car internal switch's etc).
Now working as a Supplier development engineer for Borgwarner turbo's. Very different and a real challenge. Lots of worldwide travel sorting out
issues/ problem solving and developing suppliers. Much more to turbo's than I ever thought possible.
I do CAD in Solidworks for about 18 years now but have moved around a few companies. Finally I have found one local to me which is worth more than the
extra pay I could get further a field. 3 miles to work means I am home 5 minutes after kicking out time and I can also run/cycle back if I want.
Below is a vid of what we do, I have done two artic units myself now and a dozen or so trailers and smaller motorised units. All one off designs in a
tough learning curve environment. Stressful with regards to deadlines but all fun and no day is the same.
At the moment i'm a 'Programme Manager' working at a university. I work on a project (any PM types feel free to point out the
discrepancy) which is mostly about getting academics working with businesses on projects.
Prior to this i spent my career working in the public sector on various things to do with research/data/intelligence in policing/community
safety/public policy: doing research and mapping, managing people who did research, working on projects/schemes/etc mostly about increasing public
safety. I've learnt a fair bit about data, and all the things that go around it like governance and legal frameworks.
I often wish I could shift into something mechnical-related, but i'm late 30's with a young family to support and apart from the wide (but
shallow!) learning i've done in working on my Haynes, I don't have any kind of background or formal training since my GCSE in Resistant
Materials back in 1998. So it seems massively unrealistic to switch careers without becoming entirely skint in the process.
quote:Originally posted by jps
At the moment i'm a 'Programme Manager' working at a university. I work on a project (any PM types feel free to point out the
discrepancy) which is mostly about getting academics working with businesses on projects.
A few years ago we had a university student join us for around 10 months on a "Knowledge Transfer Partnership" (KTP) scheme. He brought
in some academic EMC expertise to our electronic and PCB design processes. It did us as a company quite a lot of good and gave him some real world
work experience as well (he's since gone on to become very successful in the medical electronics field, working for a large multinational
company).
Photo Archive
Building: Nothing, V8 Viento made way for V8 Mustang!
posted on 8/7/19 at 08:41 PM
Chartered Electronics engineer working as Director of Engineering at a small semiconductor company on the south coast, we do the silicon chips that
power the display's and touch screen's of mobile phones, tablets, laptops etc.
I love some of the career changes that people have had on this thread, I'm looking to move into web software so we can relocate abroad and this
thread makes me believe it's possible!
quote:Originally posted by jps
At the moment i'm a 'Programme Manager' working at a university. I work on a project (any PM types feel free to point out the
discrepancy) which is mostly about getting academics working with businesses on projects.
A few years ago we had a university student join us for around 10 months on a "Knowledge Transfer Partnership" (KTP) scheme. He brought
in some academic EMC expertise to our electronic and PCB design processes. It did us as a company quite a lot of good and gave him some real world
work experience as well (he's since gone on to become very successful in the medical electronics field, working for a large multinational
company).
Is that the kind of thing you're working on?
Im the KTP manager at Nottingham Uni, glad to hear the scheme worked well for you
quote:Originally posted by jps
At the moment i'm a 'Programme Manager' working at a university. I work on a project (any PM types feel free to point out the
discrepancy) which is mostly about getting academics working with businesses on projects.
A few years ago we had a university student join us for around 10 months on a "Knowledge Transfer Partnership" (KTP) scheme. He brought
in some academic EMC expertise to our electronic and PCB design processes. It did us as a company quite a lot of good and gave him some real world
work experience as well (he's since gone on to become very successful in the medical electronics field, working for a large multinational
company).
Is that the kind of thing you're working on?
Im the KTP manager at Nottingham Uni, glad to hear the scheme worked well for you
It certainly did - IIRC the guy was at The University of Leicester at the time.
quote:Originally posted by jps
At the moment i'm a 'Programme Manager' working at a university. I work on a project (any PM types feel free to point out the
discrepancy) which is mostly about getting academics working with businesses on projects.
A few years ago we had a university student join us for around 10 months on a "Knowledge Transfer Partnership" (KTP) scheme. He brought
in some academic EMC expertise to our electronic and PCB design processes. It did us as a company quite a lot of good and gave him some real world
work experience as well (he's since gone on to become very successful in the medical electronics field, working for a large multinational
company).
Is that the kind of thing you're working on?
Essentially yes - but not KTP specifically, the project i'm on is doing a range of things, none of them to the size/scale of KTPs. Good to hear
you've had a good experience with KTP though!
