Leadership Team and Profiles
Now that our Early Careers Network is officially up and running, we’re pleased to announce we have an established leadership team with five founding members.
They are Ben Thompson (Co-Chair), Kieran Lyons (Co-Chair), Elahe Rostaminikoo (Marketing & Promotions), Norman Chan (Mentor Liaison), Stefan Kent (Mentor Liaison) and Darren Devaney (Mentor Liaison).
By way of introduction, we have asked the team to answer some questions on what motivates and inspires them within their own careers, and we kick off with Co-Chair Ben Thompson.
NAME: Ben Thompson
ROLE & COMPANY: OT Engineer | United Utilities
- What inspired you to pursue a career in engineering/science?
I grew up with the British Army, surrounded by people saying old one liners like ‘improvise, adapt, overcome’. Generally, when you found a problem, it wasn’t a problem for someone else, it was for you. You’re there and now, so find a solution, sort it and learn from it. Growing up surrounded by that mentality pretty much sealed me to becoming an engineer!
- If you could revolutionise or change one aspect of your industry, what would it be and why?
Instrumentation forms a key part of the water industry, and more recently, key to how the public perceives it. Sure, there are things that may be able to be improved, but what I would really like to change is people’s understanding of data. Sometimes spending money on more sensors, generating more data may not be good! Data without context often leads to misunderstood narratives or even worse: bad data can lead to justified narratives that just aren’t representative of what is actually happening. Those narratives may then be used to drive investment! Weird to say from an instrumentation engineer, sometimes we need to just stop and think – do we really need more instruments? Do we need more data? If the answer is yes, lets really think what we are going to do with the data and how we validate it to show what is genuinely representative of the real world.
- Why did you want to join the Early Careers Network (ECN)?
I have been lucky enough to have several key mentors throughout my career who have championed both myself and early career professionals as a whole. Previously, I have never been in a position to be able to reciprocate that, but now I am. If I can help to give somebody the confidence, encouragement or opportunities to help them progress or succeed then I’ve been successful in passing that torch on and hopefully in years to come, they’ll feel the same!
- If you could collaborate with any engineer or scientist (past or present), who would it be and why?
I don’t speak Italian but I think it would have to be Giovanni Venturi, after whom the Venturi effect is named. Flow measurement is such a crucial part of modern life and it is used for things we enjoy every day. Some of the earliest modern measurement technology was based on the Venturi effect and a lot of it we still use today. I know he would be proud to see so many open channel flumes knocking about in the water industry for sure!
If you would like to join the ECN as either a mentor or mentee, visit your membership page on the InstMC website and tick the ‘Early Careers Network’ box under ‘Special Interest Groups’.