Profile
Khaled Saad
Curriculum Vitae
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Education:
I went to a school in Egypt and did my Masters in Engineering at the University of Sheffield
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Qualifications:
At school I did GCSEs and A-levels (Physics, Maths, Further Maths and Arabic). At university, I did a Masters in Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering
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Work History:
This is my first job after graduating university; however, I did various internships and part-time jobs in Rolls-Royce, Capital One and other places.
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Current Job:
AUV Software and Systems Engineer
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Employer:
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About Me
I'm a curious robotics engineer. When not working with robots, I can often be found running, playing games or reading a book.
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My Work
I work on a robotic submarine that collects data from the ocean for scientists.
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Read more
I work on an autonomous submarine, called the Autosub6000. The submarine is equipped with many sensors and cameras that allow it to gather a lot of information when diving in the ocean. Using this information scientists can: map the ocean floor, get a better understanding of marine biology and do many other things.
I am one of two software engineers on the team and my work focuses on writing code to enable the submarine to gather new or improved data. For example, I have recently been working on a new camera system that will allow the submarine to take better photos.
Each year the submarine goes on several missions and my work varies based on upcoming missions. Just before the missions, I usually focus on preparing the submarine for the mission by checking that all its sensors and systems (e.g. cameras) are working as expected. I also help prepare the computers that we take on missions to ensure we can communicate with the submarine during dives.
During missions, my team and I travel with the submarine on the ship in order to collect the data requested by the scientists. On the ship, I help operate the submarine, fix any software problems that might come up and process the data that the submarine collects, before handing it over to the scientists.
After a mission, my job is to do any required repairs that were not possible to do on the ship. I also work on adding new sensors and improving the programmes we use to communicate with and control the submarine.
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My Typical Day: I usually arrive at the office around 9am. I spend a bit of time going through my emails and planning my day, before heading to a brief meeting with my team to discuss what we will be working on that day. I spend some time at my desk writing and testing code, before going to have lunch with my teammates at midday. After finishing lunch, I head down to the workshop to test my code on the submarine or help out with the maintenance of the submarine.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Curious, friendly, engineer
What's the best thing you've done in your career?
During university, a friend of mine and I put together a team of engineering students to design and build a small submarine to compete in an international competition. We built everything from scratch and travelled to America to attend the competition.
What or who inspired you to follow your career?
When I was a kid, I remember seeing a Lego robot doing a task autonomously. I immediately fell in love with robots and decided that this is what I want to do when I grow up.
What was your favourite subject at school?
Maths!
What did you want to be after you left school?
I was lucky to know exactly what I wanted to be: a robotics engineer; however, I am still trying to find out what type of robots I like to work with the most.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Maybe 😇
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
I'd love to work on a robot that goes to space!
Who is your favourite singer or band?
I don't really have a favourite, though lately I have been listening to a lot of classic rock.
What's your favourite food?
Burgers 🍔
What is the most fun thing you've done?
Scuba diving!
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1. Travel the world 2. Have a positive impact through my work 3. Become very good at what I do
Tell us a joke.
Not my joke, but one that I can definitely relate to: How many software engineers does it take to change a light bulb? Wait! Maybe the bulb isn't broken. Let's try it again.
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