Senior Specialist Engineer - Structural Simulation
1) How long have you worked for Triumph?
19 years.
2) What education did you have prior to working for Triumph?
I studied at the University of Southampton and left with a 1st class MEng in Mechanical Engineering. I later gained a CEng through the IMechE whilst working at Triumph.
3) Why did you choose to work for Triumph?
When I left university, I wanted to design internal combustion engines. Through my own research I had discovered Triumph designed and built their own engines and so I applied. Through the recruitment process I realised I would have responsibility for designing larger sections of the engine than I would at the large automotive companies and would gain wider experience more quickly. I was offered a role in one of the powertrain design teams and accepted.
4) Where else have you worked within Triumph?I have worked in powertrain design teams as a design engineer, project engineer and team leader across many different projects before going into the more specialized area of simulation.
I carry out structural finite element analysis on many powertrain and chassis components both during the design phase and as a problem-solving tool in the development phase. This enables us to optimize our components for mass and durability, maximizing performance and allows us to rapidly solve development issues when they occur.
I also develop and refine simulation methodology that is then used by other engineers across the design department.
6. What role do you have within your team at Triumph and how do they help you?
I work within a team of specialist engineers covering different types of simulation including FEA and CFD (computational fluid dynamics). Whilst we have our individual specialisms, we often collaborate to share ideas which is particularly important in solving urgent development issues.
As a great deal of simulation also occurs within the design teams, I also provide support and advice to engineers who are conducting simulation activities but are not specialists.
7. What do you like best about Triumph?
The opportunity to apply my skills and experience to the design of actual motorcycles which are then sold and used by customers all over the world. It is great to be able to apply simulation methodologies to real-life products and be able to see and enjoy the fruition of our hard work.
Being able to track each motorcycle from concept to production allows us to continually hone our simulation processes which in turn continually improves our motorcycles.