From Mechanical Engineering Graduate to Senior Engineer working in nuclear

David Fraser

Senior Engineer

EASL

I began working as an engineer in 2009, after studying Mechanical Engineering at Manchester Metropolitan University.

During this time I have had the opportunity to progress professionally and I am currently Senior Engineer and team lead of six engineers.

Throughout education, I enjoyed physics and maths which led me to pursue mechanical engineering and my degree, I found the ‘stress and structures’ and ‘FEA’ modules most interesting and since then, realised I’d like to go into a job involving structural integrity assessments and my job at EASL covers exactly that.

My typical day as an Engineer includes firstly, planning workstreams and tasks for me and my team for the day, which includes liaising with clients, briefing junior staff and progressing technical work.

The technical work is usually assessments or analysis of existing plant with occasional design work. This is often done using MS Excel spreadsheets with findings reported in EANs or comprehensive technical reports.

For the past few years, I have been the task engineer for a major industry leader.

This has probably been my biggest achievement as it has given me the opportunity to address key challenges, provide adequate solutions and overall grow and progress as a professional.

Developing and nurturing a strong, trustworthy relationship with the company is a continuous task and I work with my team to ensure that everyone works towards supporting our client and providing a professional approach to day to day challenges.

My team is responsible for the Nuclear Fusion Energy division at EASL, we are passionate about the environment and about ensuring that we leave a better legacy to younger generations and together we work every day to support the technology that will enable a low carbon future through net zero energy.

I find it inspiring to realise how our day to day work is contributing to helping achieve a low carbon future.

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