Profile
Robert Sinclair
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About Me:
I’m a senior materials development engineer, I live in Swindon and spend my time either at work, training at the rowing club, playing piano at home or out with local friends.
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I’m a keen problem solver and that’s why I work where I am, I enjoy the challenges at work.
Outside of work, I’ve been into rowing since I was 16, its great to have a sport to keep routine and create a mental break. I train most days in the morning either on the bike or at the gym then after work rowing either on the lake or a rowing machine.
At home I like to cook and relax. I enjoy playing the piano, I learnt at a young age and tried to keep it up when away from home. Recently I’ve saved up to buy my own piano.
With friends we like to have some socials, games nights and we like to get away on camping trips together.
For holidays, I occasionally go away. But in recent years I have renovated my house and enjoyed learning new trades.
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My pronouns are:
he/him
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My Work:
Senior materials scientist/ R&D engineer. I design the recipes for heatshrink parts for aerospace and defence components.
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As an R&D engineer I work on developing new products for our business. This involves working with specific methods to ensure we create robust designs that are suitable for the market. e.g. analysing the voice of the customer, concept design, failure mode and effect analysis, design for manufacture, design of experiments, statistics.
I often get involved with quality issues in production and I am consulted on as the design authority for our products. This means ensuring we are maintaining products that meet the requirements set by ourselves but also by the aerospace and defence industries. The requirements are very strict and are important down to the smallest component to ensure planes are safe.
From the materials side, this is the technology base of our products, we buy many types of polymers and additives and we design the recipe to make the plastics suitable for harsh environments.
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My Typical Day:
I get up at 6am. Cycle to gym then work starts at 8. 1 hour for lunch at the canteen and play some table tennis or go for a walk. Then finish work at 5pm, sometimes later for meetings with American colleagues.
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I get up at 6am. I commute by bike only about 5km, I stop for a short gym session 7-7:30 then carry on to work. Work has great facilities so I can shower and change at work and start at my desk at 8am.
I get an hour for lunch where I will buy lunch from our canteen then play table tennis at work or go for a walk. Then work from 1-5pm. I work 38 hours a week so often get a half day on Fridays. Occasionally, I will have meetings after work as I work with colleagues in American time zones but I prefer to keep strict to my time. Also I have the flexibility to work from home if I need to, but I often prefer the quick collaboration you get at work. Plus the physical separation of work helps me focus and gets me out to exercise.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
We go to a few careers and STEM days at local colleges/6th forms. We would probably use the £500 for the budget that can get us new display posters. Or we can use it make some test products to give away at fairs.
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Education:
Secondary school; Commonweal School, Swindon
College: New College, Swindon
University: Durham University, Natural sciences 1st year, then changed to chemistry. Masters in Chemistry on polymer synthesis.
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Qualifications:
School
13 GCSE’s : eng lit B, RE A, Geog A*, Music A, Graphics A, French A , ICT Merit, eng lan A, Biology A*, Chemistry A*, Physics A*, Maths A*
AS: A mathsCollege:
AS level: French B, Further maths A
A-level: Biology A, Chemistry A*, Physics A, Maths A*
ABRSM: Piano 7 Merit, Piano grade 8 fail.University:
MChem hons dunelm, 2,1 -
Work History:
Part time work in School doing paper rounds
In college worked part time in a hardware shop
At Uni, did some holiday work rowing coach and at EDF energy chemistry group.
First full time job at TE as graduate job as a materials engineer in the Energy business unit.
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Current Job:
Moved from the Energy business unit into a similar but more senior role in the aerospace, defence and marine business unit. Similar technical work but on different products built for different applications.
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Employer:
TE Connectivity
US based company with sites in many countries. Revenue $16B in 2023. Designs and manufactures connectors, sensors, relays, contactors… for various fields communications, transportation, industrial. This includes medical, automotive, rail, appliances, aerospace, defence, energy and subsea.
~500 people in Swindon
89,000 people world wide, ~8,000 engineering jobs.
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
Scientist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
No, but plenty of fun messing around.
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Either continue in academia or a career in the military
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Never had a true favourite
What's your favourite food?
Any pasta dish
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1 to be wiser. 2 probably immortality second. 3 By this point I might know how to best to use my last wish.
Tell us a joke.
How does NASA organise a party? They planet.
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