Introducing Michael
The following is an article I wrote for an IPENZ website. I thought it might be a great way to start my blogging career, and will let you learn a bit about me and my company…….
Randall and Associates, a mechanical engineering consultancy, employed me after I had completed a BE(Hons) in Mechatronics from Massey University. In the final months of my degree I was job searching and it wasn’t a matter of finding a job, but choosing the one I liked the sound of the most. With Randall and Associates specialising in the heavy vehicle industry and earth moving machinery, I was drawn to this type of consultancy.
When I began, I joined a team designing a fatigue towbar tester. This projects purpose was to mechanically test towbar designs (simulate the life of towbar in hours not years) before they were mass produced. Signal processing, linear displacement, force measurement, hydraulic monitoring and controlling as well as data acquisition and processing were all involved throughout design, manufacture and support for this project.
Other projects include heavy vehicle chassis design, towing connections, truck and trailer bodies, excavator, roller, bulldozer, grader roll over protection structures, cab risers, falling object protection, operator protection, and body protection for the use of general contractors and for the use forestry applications. Theses projects require design by 2D and 3D modelling, finite element analysis and hand calculations. The forwarding of information to clients requires manufacturing drawings to current and relevant standards.
Working for a consultancy allows me to utilise the knowledge obtained at university and the knowledge I am forever learning in the workplace, combined with the latest software packages and the knowledge of my colleagues to provide my clients with the best solution to their engineering problem.
Working in a consultancy allows diversity throughout my career. With Randall and Associates having fewer than 10 employees we have become adaptable to clients needs. This allows us to become multi skilled in our industry and with customers coming up with more and more challenging circumstances, the expectation for designs to meet their needs grows. The variety of tasks enables me to be forever learning, this is shown by the commitment of the management at Randall and Associates by sending myself and other staff on career furthering block courses to stay one step ahead of the opposition.
When Randall and Associates is approached to solve an engineering problem and I become involved in the solution, a degree of satisfaction and accomplishment is achieved when the project is completed. Direct contact with the clients throughout the projects allows no miscommunication and my job becomes more than just engineering but project and time management. For all this my job never becomes stagnant and the rewards for constant customer approval and satisfaction keep the job enjoyable.
