• Question: what does the job of and engineer involve?

    Asked by supattra02 to Amanda, Ben, Dan, Gary, Samer on 25 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Ben Drumm

      Ben Drumm answered on 25 Jun 2013:

      In my job I take projects from a crazy idea a scientist has through to a working piece of equipment that helps keep our particle accelerator running.

      So to begin with I talk to scientists and technicians about EXACTLY what they want to new gizmo to do, then I write a specification which they all sign, then I go away and design something that fits the bill (mostly in 3D CAD but there’ll also be some calculations too), then I show everyone my design, it gets torn to shreds, I go away and make improvements to it, then I do a load of drawings of all the parts, then it gets made by someone, then it comes in, gets built/tested and then when it passes the tests it gets installed!

    • Photo: Gary Boorman

      Gary Boorman answered on 28 Jun 2013:

      For me it starts with talking to the people (usually scientists) that would like something designed and made. We create a specification, I work out how long the project will take, how much it will cost, and if people are happy with that, Ithen start designing/building/testing/writing documentation. I pass some of the work to colleagues and hopefully it all goes smoothly.

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