As part of our inside look into the Aquaspira team, we spoke to Jamal Arif about his experience at Aquaspira, his entry into the industry, and the projects he is currently involved in.
Q: Tell us a bit about you and your background before joining Aquaspira.
I am currently working as a Computer Aided Design (CAD) Engineer at Aquaspira specialising in digital design. I have always lived in Nelson, a small quiet Lancashire town. I went to school at Pendle Vale College and moved to Manchester to study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Salford. After 3 years of hard work, I am proud to say that I achieved a First-Class honours degree. After graduating, I moved back to Nelson.
Q: How did you get into engineering – what sparked your interest in engineering and your role in particular?
I have always been curious about how things work, whether it was taking apart gadgets as a child or building small projects with my hands. Sometimes, my curiosity would land me in trouble such as when I dismantled the vacuum cleaner and was then unable to rebuild the machine. I can say that my mum did not see the early engineer in me!
I chose Maths, Physics and Product Design as my A-levels as I naturally enjoyed these subjects, but I had not quite figured out what path to take after college. During an A-level course on product design, I discovered CAD and was fascinated by how it could be used to quickly create and manipulate design ideas. After attending various university open days and career fairs, I started to get attracted to engineering as it was a good fit for my personality and interests. I did some research on different career paths in engineering and that is when I saw ‘design engineer’, and I knew it was a perfect fit for me.
Q: How did you find out about Aquaspira and what made you want to work here?
Throughout my university years, I became more skilled at CAD which I heavily used in my design projects to create and explore design ideas along with the required engineering calculations and testing the structural integrity of the designs using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). While searching opportunities, I found an advert on-line for ‘CAD Engineer’ at Aquaspira. The job description aligned with my experience gained through my design projects at Uni, so I knew that I would be a good fit for the job. What particularly caught my
attention was Aquaspira’s drive for innovation, showcasing their development in sensing and Ground Source Heat Recovery, and I was really impressed by the geometry of the CSR pipe.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your role at Aquaspira.
I have two main areas of responsibility. The first is drainage design proposals and secondly the company’s digital offering. Drainage design entails liaising with the sales team to provide drainage design proposals for clients by planning and draughting out pipe routes. Each job requires specific pipe fabrications which I design using 3D software, ensuring ease of manufacture, site suitability and cost effectiveness. The use of 3D design has significantly improved the speed of communication with external clients and internal production teams.
The digital offering involves developing and maintaining a suite of BIM (Building Information Modelling) objects compatible with industry software, and understanding the development of AI in drainage design.
My other responsibilities include producing designs for R&D projects – and I am also involved in projects to improve manufacturing.
Q: What do you enjoy about the job?
I absolutely delight in the fact that I can witness products I have designed coming to life, which I can see from my office window. Aside from this, I also enjoy being involved in the various manufacturing projects whether it is disassembling and reverse engineering machine parts or designing tools to aid the production team.
Q: Are there any specific projects you have enjoyed working on? Tell us a bit about them.
We wanted to rework the helical winding cages however we only had inadequate 2D drawings. Converting these into 3D drawings proved quite challenging as I was met with some geometrical problems that required me to think laterally. The resulting drawings greatly aided communication with external manufacturers to produce the required parts, and I was overjoyed to see that the new cages worked first time.
On a different project, I had just arrived at Aquaspira and they were trialling a new method of recovering and regrinding scrap HDPE. The process worked very well but it was quite clear that the equipment was too noisy. We had a fun few weeks redesigning the machine’s enclosure to suppress the decibels before we could use the equipment.
Q: Have you had any personal development or learnt any new skills since starting at Aquaspira?
I have very quickly learnt that every day is a learning day and in an SME you are expected to cover a much wider field. Since starting at Aquaspira, I have developed my understanding of draughting standards referring to BS 8888 to create drawings. I have received training in AutoCAD enabling me to produce drainage proposals for clients and have gained my Certified SolidWorks Associate certificate. I am currently working towards my IEng (Incorporated Engineer) application and my Certified SolidWorks Professional certificate and will be going on further external courses on Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing.
Q: What do you see for the future of your role at Aquaspira?
I am now heavily involved in design for Asset Management Programme 8 for the water utility sector which is going to keep me occupied for a good while. The company also has ambitious plans to develop its innovation within the business which should present many opportunities in allied areas in the coming years.
Q: What has been your favourite moment since working at Aquaspira?
As I mentioned earlier, I really enjoy seeing the drawings come to life in fabrication. I have a good working relationship with the fabrication crew, and it is always rewarding to liaise with them and help them out. On one occasion they were struggling with multiple attempts to make a fabrication work, so I quickly drew up a theoretical solution and asked them to try it. Not only was it exciting to see that the first attempt was perfect, but it was also heartwarming to witness my colleagues’ relief and gratitude since it saved them a lot of time and stress. Furthermore, this event set a standard for future technical solutions.
Q: What advice would you give to someone looking to get started in a career in engineering?
In my experience people are always willing to answer questions. So, when thinking about your GCSEs, A-levels or degree, find people with experience and ask them the questions that fill in your knowledge gap. I recommend attending career fairs where you may meet some interesting industry professionals with a range of backgrounds. Also, try to get exposure to the industry through work experience or volunteering. You could always ask your local SMEs for work experience, be it a week or a month, it will provide an understanding of some engineering jobs as well as gaining industry knowledge.
