Welcome to our Maths Week Spotlights, where you'll hear from different STEM Ambassadors about how they've used maths in their lives and careers.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
I volunteer for Olio as a "Food Waste Hero", collecting and distributing surplus food from supermarkets - it's a great way to help people in my community while helping to reduce food waste at the same time.
What was your experience with maths growing up and in school?
From a young age I’ve always enjoyed anything to do with numbers and problem solving, and struggled more with the creative subjects in school.
Tell us about your careers journey so far.
Whilst at school I had no idea what I wanted to do as a career, but my favourite subjects were maths and physics, so my school guidance teacher suggested going into engineering.
After leaving high school I studied Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Glasgow. I graduated during lockdown which made starting a career quite difficult, so I decided to continue on to a Postgraduate degree. I’m very passionate about protecting the environment so went on to study Sustainable Engineering: Offshore Renewable Energy at the University of Strathclyde.
After graduating, I was lucky enough to be offered a position at Belcan Marine as a Detail Design Engineer and have been here since, working on various projects on behalf of BAE Systems.
What was your favourite subject in school and why?
My favourite subject in school was maths. I enjoyed the problem-solving element but also liked that there is a correct answer when it comes to maths - it’s not about opinion/up for debate.
How do you use maths in your role?
In my role, maths is used in every aspect of the design process - from understanding the coordinate system of the 3D model, to the dimensioning of parts in technical drawings.
I also use maths in my everyday life: I love cooking and baking, which both involve following recipes with specific quantities, timings and temperatures - which all relates back to maths.
What is your favourite thing about your job?
I love being able to see the outcome of our work in the physical build of the ships on the Clyde. Also, the sense of accomplishment that I am contributing to something important.
What is a normal day in your role like?
First, I’ll make a coffee and get organised for the day, respond to any emails and prepare for the daily team meeting, where we update each other on our progress.
I’ll then spend the rest of the day working with CAD software as well as collaborating with colleagues and clients through emails, Skype calls and face-to-face meetings.
And what does your job title mean?
A Detail Design Engineer is someone who uses 2D and 3D design software to create detailed technical drawings and models for components and assemblies.
In my current role, this means using CAD software to make updates to the virtual 3D model of the ship and create/update any associated drawings - these are then sent to the production team for use in the construction of the ship.
Can you suggest an activity that could be done at home that illustrates an aspect of your work? Please share links to relevant resources.
For those of you that have played Minecraft before, you will probably have already created some basic 3D models using voxels (blocks) - here’s some examples of 3D models created in Minecraft https://www.quora.com/Is-Minecraft-pretty-much-3D-modelling-with-pixels.
Autodesk was the first CAD software package I learned how to use back in high school; their website (https://www.autodesk.co.uk) is a good place to get a feel for the various software packages and there are several free downloads available.
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