What Drove You Towards a Career in Engineering?

In a similar vein to johnbeetem I guess we all knew I'd do something like this when I was but a nipper. Again, too young to remember (and therefore be accountable for my actions), but my mother told me they would often find 'bits' lying around! Screws, bolts etc (I have NO idea where I got the tools (or indeed strength) from to undo a screw from a door hinge - but apparently I did.

They'd figure out where the 'bits' came from when stuff fell off!

Taking stuff apart to see how it works has always interested me - as have the drawings of Heath Robinson - as I grew so did my interest (and command of far larger tools - you can take BIG stuff apart with those)!

At Primary School I LOVED the various building stuff they had like 'Connecta Straws', Lego, Stickle-Bricks, Meccano etc - I would try to build 'stuff', not just the random collection of guff most kids did - I wanted my builds to be or do something.

I was fortunate enough to be at secondary school in the early 80's - home computers were here and the syllabus included 'Computer Studies' - many hours spent bashing away on the BBC Model B at 'Sixth Form College', day release to the local Polytechnic (and a now totally pointless understanding of how ferrite core (magnetic core) memory works). My good Physics grade lead to a natural (to me at least) progression to taking Electronics along with Computer Studies in the Sixth Form.

I've already covered what got me into Electronics directly, so I won't bore you (more) here . . .

The next step towards a career was an unusual one, I was too lazy to get around to filling out the application form to work at GEC-Marconi in Coventry (thankfully) - by the time I sent it it was too late, most of our year were now 'happily' employed ramming endless components into countless PCBs . . . . . .  So, no job, no real direction and then it was my birthday - at school - and as any kid from the UK in the 80s knows, birthday = 'the bumps'!

'Where is this going?' I hear you cry, bear with me!

Now, the guys dishing out 'the bumps' were an unsavoury lot, and the severity of the bumps was indirectly proportional to your level of popularity; I was not overly popular, being a bit of a scrawny (and endlessly annoying) little brat, so I was expecting more of a 'kicking', (worse than the bumps and not at all friendly).

Coupled with recent information that they had meted out their particular form of birthday torture on one of their own - and put him in the hospital with a broken collarbone - I opted to do what any sane child would - I hid!! My chosen hiding place was inspired, where would a bunch of local, moronic, halfwitted, bullying thugs never look for me? The school Careers Information Office, where I stumbled upon some information regarding my love of electronics and computers and how a life in the military offered training, travel . . . . etc.

25 years later I left the RAF having worked on everything from the venerable Avro Shackleton, English Electric Canberra and Armstrong Whitworth Argosy (in training), through the Panavia Tornado GR4 and F2/F3 and finally the Eurofighter Typhoon whilst serving. Training was indeed provided - and I got paid during it too!! Win! I did travel a little, 3 times to the South Atlantic - Falkland Islands! Yay!

Gotta* say I loved it by and large     *('Contractual Obligation' apparently - comes with a 1/4 century of military life or so I'm told)!

I now teach others how to fix the Typhoon in my day job (now I DO love that job almost ALL the time), at home I still love to take stuff apart to see how it works.

I even get around to putting it back together occasionally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In a similar vein to johnbeetem I guess we all knew I'd do something like this when I was but a nipper. Again, too young to remember (and therefore be accountable for my actions), but my mother told me they would often find 'bits' lying around! Screws, bolts etc (I have NO idea where I got the tools (or indeed strength) from to undo a screw from a door hinge - but apparently I did.

They'd figure out where the 'bits' came from when stuff fell off!

Taking stuff apart to see how it works has always interested me - as have the drawings of Heath Robinson - as I grew so did my interest (and command of far larger tools - you can take BIG stuff apart with those)!

At Primary School I LOVED the various building stuff they had like 'Connecta Straws', Lego, Stickle-Bricks, Meccano etc - I would try to build 'stuff', not just the random collection of guff most kids did - I wanted my builds to be or do something.

I was fortunate enough to be at secondary school in the early 80's - home computers were here and the syllabus included 'Computer Studies' - many hours spent bashing away on the BBC Model B at 'Sixth Form College', day release to the local Polytechnic (and a now totally pointless understanding of how ferrite core (magnetic core) memory works). My good Physics grade lead to a natural (to me at least) progression to taking Electronics along with Computer Studies in the Sixth Form.

I've already covered what got me into Electronics directly, so I won't bore you (more) here . . .

The next step towards a career was an unusual one, I was too lazy to get around to filling out the application form to work at GEC-Marconi in Coventry (thankfully) - by the time I sent it it was too late, most of our year were now 'happily' employed ramming endless components into countless PCBs . . . . . .  So, no job, no real direction and then it was my birthday - at school - and as any kid from the UK in the 80s knows, birthday = 'the bumps'!

'Where is this going?' I hear you cry, bear with me!

Now, the guys dishing out 'the bumps' were an unsavoury lot, and the severity of the bumps was indirectly proportional to your level of popularity; I was not overly popular, being a bit of a scrawny (and endlessly annoying) little brat, so I was expecting more of a 'kicking', (worse than the bumps and not at all friendly).

Coupled with recent information that they had meted out their particular form of birthday torture on one of their own - and put him in the hospital with a broken collarbone - I opted to do what any sane child would - I hid!! My chosen hiding place was inspired, where would a bunch of local, moronic, halfwitted, bullying thugs never look for me? The school Careers Information Office, where I stumbled upon some information regarding my love of electronics and computers and how a life in the military offered training, travel . . . . etc.

25 years later I left the RAF having worked on everything from the venerable Avro Shackleton, English Electric Canberra and Armstrong Whitworth Argosy (in training), through the Panavia Tornado GR4 and F2/F3 and finally the Eurofighter Typhoon whilst serving. Training was indeed provided - and I got paid during it too!! Win! I did travel a little, 3 times to the South Atlantic - Falkland Islands! Yay!

Gotta* say I loved it by and large     *('Contractual Obligation' apparently - comes with a 1/4 century of military life or so I'm told)!

I now teach others how to fix the Typhoon in my day job (now I DO love that job almost ALL the time), at home I still love to take stuff apart to see how it works.

I even get around to putting it back together occasionally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .