Question: Hi Steph What exactly do you do in your work and do you find it fulfilling?

Stephanie Tomlinson answered on 14 Mar 2012:

Hi Elziee,

A mixture of things. I manage the development of the laser labs which means that the scientists will have ideas about how they can improve their systems (for example, make the beam more powerful) or will need me to check the system mechanically to see if it can be improved (for example, vibrations (shaking) of the bits in the laser beam can be a big problem). I then need to assess the best way to improve the system. Sometimes I will design a new piece of kit or modify an existing one. When I do design work, I sketch ideas out on paper or model them on a 3D computer aided design software. I have to make sure that I have fully understood what the scientists want (one person might interpret a request differently from the next). Once I have finished the design and the scientsists have checked that it does look like it will do what they want, I will organise for someone to make it. I manage the mechanical workshop so I have a lovely team of people to make things for me. They also have to make things for other people so I look through all the jobs and find out which is most important. I then give out the jobs to the people in the workshop depending on which job suits which person best. My job involves a lot of communication with people, which is something I enjoy a lot. I find my work very fulfilling as i like to see things change and progress and it is very exciting when your ideas work first time. The scientists will provide very interesting engineering challenges and I have to negotiate with them to come to a solution that is achievable – it is the scientists job to stretch convention and have crazy (but ultimately useful) ideas.