How to become an engineer: Josh's story

Josh:

Hi, I'm Josh. I'm 24 years old and I'm an engineer. I'm the CEO of RPD International. We help companies understand what the future of the world might be. They come to us with these ideas, crazy designs and projects and contraptions and we'll help them design those, do the engineering and then manufacture them and ship them all round the world.

My first introduction to engineering was when I was 10, 11 years old, watching Robot Wars on TV and I was just fascinated by the engineering behind it. So I spent a long time learning how to do the engineering behind robotics, trying to design more and more interesting projects, learning the maths behind everything I was doing. And I got to the point where I just couldn't produce this stuff with Sellotape or maybe a drill that I had at home. So I went round the UK, talking to factories, saying here are the drawings, here's everything I want to make and asking them with the money I had from a paper round, if they could produce this stuff. Their whole response was, go to China, you can't afford to produce anything here.

I was actually able to go and Google Chinese factories and find people from the UK, from Europe, from America who moved out to China who are now running factories out there. I was 13 years old sending all of my pocket money out to China to make more and more interesting things to take to these robotic events. And meeting all of these people with important roles around the engineering industry and they started to say: can you manufacture this piece for me? This very quickly became, introduced to the next person, and the next person and all of this work is international, it's all remote through phone calls and emails and nobody asked the question "how old is our supply chain consultant?"

Whilst I spent all this time working with companies and working in China, I was still doing my GCSEs. I spent 20 hours a day, working. I'd go to school, be in my Maths lesson or wherever I needed to be, then I'd go home. I'd sleep a few hours. I'd get up at 3 am to be on the phone in China. So it was during my A-levels, suddenly they realised I was still only 17, 18 years old and wasn't actually old enough to be qualified to do this work. Very quickly, I was fired and that was the end of my first introduction to Engineering.

What I really wanted to do was get back into that world of people and process, and how you really make something. I just couldn't see myself going to university to study the physics behind it, so I incorporated the business. Things became more and more interesting. Half of my time is with clients looking at what might be interesting, what's the future of consumers and products? The other half of my time, I'm flying around the world, working with manufacturers, walking factory floors, looking at how these things are produced, what kind of technologies are coming out there, and how we can put these things together.

The last seven years, we've been creating more and more interesting projects, shipped to millions of people around the world. For me the future really is about having fun. It's about creating this business that has a huge impact on the world.

Emma-Louise Have you ever had an idea for an invention, something you thought would make your life easier? If so, you've taken your first steps into engineering something.

Frankie As an engineer, you apply scientific principles to design and help create all sorts of things like buildings, aircrafts, or bras.

Emma-Louise Traditionally, engineering falls in four main categories: chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering. And, within each of these, there are more specific types of engineering disciplines.

Frankie There were nearly 870,000 engineers in the UK [in 2020], with an estimated 4% growth of just under 40,000 more jobs by 2025.

Emma-Louise You could consider roles such as electrical engineer, chemical engineer, mechanical engineer, nuclear engineer, or software engineer. For electrical engineers,

Frankie people who design, build and maintain electrical systems and equipment,

Emma-Louise there is an expected job growth of just under 1,600 jobs by 2025. As of 2020, the median salary was just over £50,000 per year.

Frankie For civil engineers,

Emma-Louise people who design and manage construction projects, anything from bridges to sports stadiums,

Frankie there's an expected growth of approximately 2,800 jobs by 2025, with a median salary of around £44,500.

Emma-Louise And for mechanical engineers,

Frankie people who develop and design machines that are used in various industries from construction to farming,

Emma-Louise there's an expected growth of just under 2,600 jobs by 2025, with a salary of around £42,000. If you've got a curious mind and love problem solving, engineering could be a good career path for you.

Frankie There are many ways into engineering. The first thing to figure out might be what kind of engineering you're interested in.

Emma-Louise You could consider apprenticeships that are relevant to that role, like a Level 6 Manufacturing Engineer or a Level 6 Electro-mechanical Engineer apprenticeship. These typically take between four and six years to complete.

Frankie Of course, there are also many university courses you could look into. Courses such as Electro-mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, or Aeronautical Engineering. You would usually need two or three A-levels or equivalent for these, and some of these courses will specify if you need particular A-levels, or the equivalent. Maths and Science subjects are sometimes required.

Emma-Louise There's now more choice as the new T-level qualification is available in England. These two-year courses are equivalent to three A-levels and involve 80% classroom learning and 20% industry placement.

Frankie You can also find out about courses accredited by professional engineering institutions from the Engineering Council.

Emma-Louise Engineers have valuable transferable skills that are handy for other job roles and everyday life, such as problem solving, critical thinking, and working through potential solutions.

Frankie If you've heard things in the past that have made you think engineering is not for you, it might be worth taking a deeper look. Engineers are working on some of the most exciting challenges we face, be it enhancing virtual reality or engineering better medicines. Let's hear from some professionals. Ben is an aerospace engineer. "I love interacting and working with people to find solutions to problems. I enjoy knowing that millions of people fly around the world every year on products that I have helped develop. There's a big push at the moment for more environmentally friendly solutions. Air travel is a massive contributor to global warming and so anything that the industry can do to reduce harmful gases being emitted will make a big impact."

Emma-LouiseDavid, an expert at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, says: "The most exciting thing about engineering and technology is that there will be roles in the next five to 10 years that don't exist yet. Artificial intelligence (AI), coding and ‘green jobs’ – those that work to combat climate change – will continue to evolve and be some of the most important roles within the sector in years to come. It's also really important that the engineering industry is inclusive and representative as engineers, design products and services for everyone."

Emma-Louise Engineering is creative, exciting and not to mention that it pays pretty well once you've worked your way up beyond junior roles. The median wage within the sector is over £41,000, compared to the median full-time salary in the UK which is around £28,500.

Frankie There's also particularly strong growth in software publishing and wireless communications.

Emma-Louise Engineering is also an industry where the gender mix isn't well balanced, although the research is unclear as to why.

Frankie The main shortfall here is engineers who identify as female. As of 2020, 88% of engineers identified as male. However, lots of employers are keen to change this, so there should be more and more opportunities coming up for engineers who identify as female.

Emma-Louise One thing that's for sure is that there are going to be lots of opportunities available in the engineering sector, with just under 40,000 new jobs expected by 2025. So, if this has piqued your interest, then it'll be worth doing some more research to see if this is right for you.