ACR NEWS AWARDS FANS


be clear from drawings that we receive in the offi ce. Having units in our own training room also means that the technical team can talk me through scenarios when I have asked them a question about job and show me whilst they explain. I also spent time with our supplier’s projects team to learn from their experience and knowledge. Hopefully, this combination has allowed me to ask the


correct questions at design stages to be able to overcome any obstacles before a problem arises.


Which part of your job do you enjoy most? Seeing an order come through and going for dispatch after


working on it for sometimes six to 12 months, making alterations to get the exact needs for the customer and provide the correct solutions at the right price point for the end user. Each one is a win for the business.


What has surprised you the most about this career path so far? I had a perception before working at CDL that the industry was quite static, I wasn’t expecting the developments or technology that we have seen.


What are your long-term career goals? I’d like to continue to learn and progress within the industry,


I enjoy gaining knowledge on new products, ideas etc. I’d also like to support with training new/ young people in the industry.


Are there any additional resources or training opportunities you’d like to see off ered? It would be great to have some kind of pool of companies available to off er insights into what they do and how they do it, so that people newer to the industry can better understand what we do or to encourage more people to get involved in the industry. Career sessions etc at schools and colleges didn’t discuss the HVAC industry while I was there. I also believe that we should support more colleges and learning institutions to be able to off er an increased amount of high-quality training locations.


What do you think are the best and worst aspects of the industry? I enjoy new challenges and designs as this gives me opportunities to learn. The industry as a whole is also able to cope with challenges and adapt to these.


Like many other industries at the moment, we face supply chain disruptions due to circumstances outside of our control. We have issues such as labour shortages, lack of raw materials, issues with ports etc, all of which can impact our ongoing projects. Whilst we can avoid some of these issues by ensuring we forward plan and off er alternative solutions where possible, there are still certain instances where we can lose a project based on outside circumstances.


What could we do better in terms of climate action? Work closer together with all aff ected/concerned parties to


agree a mutually benefi cial strategy to get to the end goal. I Download the ACR News app today www.acr-news.com • July 2024 19


believe everyone wants the same thing at the end of the day, but it appears that groups/organisations all set their stalls out to protect their angle rather than being sympathetic to how we do it together and achieve results better and faster.


What do you think are the biggest challenges and opportunities ahead?


The biggest challenge is trying to manufacture high effi ciency equipment, using less raw materials (not increasing coil sizes etc.) with the ability to operate eff ectively on low GWP refrigerants that will be required to meet the phase down ahead.


The biggest opportunity is to move from being primarily focused on cooling – to have the heat pumps and brands we off er become household names, rather than our primary market being the commercial sector.


"I’ve found the guidance and support from other people within the industry to be one of the main learning resources, particularly when going through my college course as they helped me to understand the application of that knowledge within the context of our work."


How can we best encourage new people into the industry? Promoting the opportunities and technology that the industry has to off er to a younger audience. As I mentioned earlier, this wasn’t an industry that was discussed when I was of school age, my awareness was through the infl uence of people around me already in the industry. I think many young people will be the same, meaning there is a smaller pool of awareness to the potential careers on off er. Perhaps advertising and becoming more involved with school careers advice sessions etc will raise the interest in the industry from a younger age.


What advice would you give to anyone about entering into engineering as a career?


I would suggest being open-minded and take on every learning opportunity off ered to you. There are resources available but also there are people in the industry who have a mass of knowledge and experience that you can learn from. I’ve found the guidance and support from other people within the industry to be one of the main learning resources, particularly when going through my college course as they helped me to understand the application of that knowledge within the context of our work.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44