Engineer steers his hobby into a career

An engineer has transformed his lifelong hobby into a dream job thanks to the skills he learnt at Wrexham Glyndwr University.

David Wright, originally from Speke, secured a job with leading remote controlled car company ARRMA after graduating from Glyndwr’s Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering degree.

Having started on a Foundation degree at Glyndwr studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering, David began to develop a wider interest in Mechanical Engineering – after seeing way he could apply it to his hobby working with remote-controlled cars.

He said: “I originally enrolled onto the Electronics foundation year course as I had an interest within that subject at the time.

“The foundation year at Glyndwr would cover modules within all engineering routes to give you a broad grounding in all engineering disciplines.

“As the year progressed I found Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering very interesting, and as I was mechanically-minded I knew I would enjoy this subject more!”

As his studies progressed, David began looking at ways he could apply them to the work he was doing with remote controlled cars.

Using the industry-standard computer aided engineering (CAE) tools at Glyndwr, he began carrying out finite element analysis (FEA) on various car parts – modelling the cars in 3D and simulating some of the stresses and impacts which they would be put under in real-life situations.

He added: “I have always had remote controlled model cars since I could remember and it has stuck with me throughout my life.

“I would be classed as a basher which is jumping, crashing, backflipping, flipping, but to name a few – anything to see what limits the car could take until it breaks!

“What I liked to do at Glyndwr was simulate the parts and do FEA to see what their failure point was. I could then modify the parts to improve their strength and so on.”

By combining this virtual work with hands-on activity – and with the support of Glyndwr’s lecturers – David was able to refine his hobby and develop better remote controlled cars.

He added: “The hands- on experiments I felt were the most important thing to me at Glyndwr. It gave me a better understanding of the theory-based studies.

“My current position is to basically try to test parts until failure, so the understanding of how they break is important – as I have to report as much information as possible back to my team to make improvements to the parts.”

David remains thankful to the team at Glyndwr for all their support – and is keen to encourage others who are considering an engineering degree to look at what the university has to offer.

He added: “Studying at Glyndwr was amazing. I was always, always learning and the amount of support was excellent. Of course there were times when you struggled, but help was always available.

“Put your head down and you can achieve anything. There’s always help if you need it – if not from the tutor teaching the module, then from someone else within the Glyndwr library.

“If you’re thinking of doing a degree at Glyndwr, I’d say – go for it.

“I would like to say thank you to all the staff at Glyndwr for an enjoyable experience, and a special thank you to Martyn Jones, Shafiul Monir and John Jones – who went out of their way to help me when I needed it. I appreciate it very much.

“I would also like to thank ARRMA for giving me this job opportunity, I am very grateful – and also to the ARRMA lads for making me feel welcome and making it an enjoyable place to work -cheers guys!

“I believe I got the job with my enthusiasm for remote controlled cars and my academic background, mainly the mechanical aspect. As a Test Engineer, I am basically doing my hobby and reporting back with my findings.

“I couldn’t ask for a better job or career!”

Martyn Jones, senior lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Wrexham Glyndwr University, said: “Watching a student develop their interests as they progress on our courses is always great to see and one of the best parts of the job. When someone like David is able to apply what they are learning to their hobby, it helps make their learning even richer.

“From his initial studies on the Foundation year, all the way through to his graduation and beyond, David’s applied his studies and theory to his practical work with cars.

“Being able to take his studies and his hobby, and to turn them into a career, is brilliant news for David– and the whole team at Glyndwr is delighted to see him secure his dream role.”

More about Wrexham Glyndwr University’s BSc (Hons) in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering, can be found here