• Question: How would you sum up an average day at your job? Also what percentage of your day do you spend solving technical engineering problems? 

    Asked by Amirah to Abbie, Melanie, Paul, Stu, Tom on 7 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Abbie Hutty

      Abbie Hutty answered on 7 Mar 2016:

      My days are very varied – no two are the same!
      I have a small technical team that work for me, and I work in an office and spend my time either doing analysis or design on my computer, in meetings brainstorming, discussing and developing ideas with my team, or co-ordinating their work to make sure we meet our deadlines, or budget. Sending lots of emails to make sure everyone is informed and knows what decisions have been made and what our targets are. I also plan and oversee testing, to make sure our materials and design work like we expect. Or I might be visiting the manufacturers of my structure and answering their technical questions, or problem solving any difficulties they have with our design. And occasionally reporting back our design progress to our customers at the European space Agency, in reviews, meetings or presentations.

      And in terms of technical, well of course it depends on the day, and every day has some technical stuff in it but that doesn’t necessarily mean calculations and analysis – maybe just looking at test results and using your understanding of science and materials to work out why they have happened like they have. So maybe anywhere from 5% to 50%! I’m sorry that’s not very helpful!

    • Photo: Stuart Inglis

      Stuart Inglis answered on 7 Mar 2016:

      Hey Amirah,

      Check out the profile, it’s got some info on the typical day but certainly a bit of “faff” with emails in the morning from 8am. I’ll then get stuck in to some report writing with a cuppa tea. Sneaky wee 10am break, hopefully pinching some sugary snacks from somewhere in the office. After that maybe a couple of meetings up until lunchtime. After lunch blast out some design calculations, get a design drawn up. More tea at 3pm and a nip to the workshop to see how some of the components are shaping up before hot footing it out the door at 4.30pm.

      So yeh solving technical problems maybe up to about 50% of the time. Maybe…as long as it doesn’t interrupt tea time!

    • Photo: Paul Webb

      Paul Webb answered on 8 Mar 2016:

      No day is ever the same so I have no typical day lol

      But I start at 8am lead the morning meeting with my engineers organise their work then go to the morning meeting with the senior management and directors

      After that send some emails, break free drinks in our company so that’s a bonus 😉

      My team come to me with problems and I sort them or make the decision on how to fix or get another specialist in to help us

      Dinner

      Meetings more emails

      Leave at 5pm if I’m lucky lol

    • Photo: Melanie Zimmer

      Melanie Zimmer answered on 17 Mar 2016:

      As has been said before, there is no such thing as an average day, but there are activities that reoccur quite frequently. In my case that is reading papers, write reports, attend meetings, speak with other people about the projects, and write e-mails / do phone calls – at some point all these activities will help to solve an engineering problem.

Comments