I’ve really enjoyed my first few months at HD. They’ve certainly gone quickly, but I’ve valued every second. They have included a lot of learning and exposure to HD’s way of working and process, along with plenty of project work and with moving into our new premises, getting my CAD skills back up to scratch and overall exposure to medical device design & development. From then on, my time has been filled with tackling lots of project briefs, a good bit of problem-solving, implementing ideas through various mediums.
What’s great about being at HD is that no day is the same and there’s a real variety of work to be done, even within the same project. So, the concept of a ‘typical day’ is quite foreign in that the hours I work are the same each day, but generally the work and tasks done reflect the stage of the project and what is needed. Most of my work currently is in CAD, but I’ve had days where I’ve been doing project management, had client or supplier meetings or been in the workshop and not touched the PC at all.
I think I’ve touched on how the variety of work really keeps everything fresh and creates a real growth mindset for myself and the wider team. I’ve also really enjoyed the friendliness and collaboration that exists within HD. The openness to be able to pick the brains of designers and engineers with years of experience in a broad range of sectors is fantastic and feels like a real privilege, it really helps build my confidence so that I might be able to reciprocate this in the future.
I think the biggest thing I’ve had to (and continue to) learn is around building and managing client relationships. Being part of a small consultancy, this is arguably one of the most important considerations. Another challenge has been in time management. The project timescales mean that being critical in figuring out how best to plan and spend a day to progress the project or problem is incredibly important.
I think university really helped foster a curiosity which is needed to be able to develop and learn new things. The nature of my course always gave me a good grasp on the application of theory and when various experiences could be pulled upon to help solve a different problem. It also really emphasized the value of fast iteration in conjunction with rapid prototyping to speed up development time and quality. It also prepared me to stay current – this is something I hope to be able to maintain in the years to come.
If you’re doing a design engineering course and want to pursue a career in the field afterwards; look at what you’re learning on the course and try to find companies where you can not only apply your knowledge but also enhance it and potentially offer new skills to their business. Don’t sell yourself short, and don’t give up on trying to find something you want to be doing. And importantly, be unique. Show something fun, new, and creative but also relevant to what you want the company to know about you in how you apply.
At this point in my career, I’m taking every day as it comes and looking to maintain a sense of gratitude to be where I am. I hope to develop and apply some of my UX, mechatronic and IoT skills and continue to gain experience putting things into the world. I’m looking forward to continuing to work on new and exciting projects, and let’s see where the world takes me!
If you would like to learn more about working with Rob and the team at HD on your new product or medical device development project, please get in touch.
Design Development Engineer
Rob graduated from the Dyson School of Design Engineering at Imperial College London in 2021 with a Master’s in Design Engineering. Prior to joining HD, he worked in the automotive sector using state of the art 3D scanning and 3D printing techniques. He has a keen interest in human centred, interaction and experience design and has expertise in additive manufacturing, CAD, IoT, UI and mechatronics.
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