Ian Nicolson A day in the life of... HonMIIMS


Q. How did you get into marine surveying and was it your career of choice, or something that just happened?


A. I was supposed to go into the Royal Navy and passed the exam and the interview. Then it was discovered that I was short-sighted. So I decided to build ships, if I could not sink them. I was apprenticed to a famous designer/ surveyor, Fred Parker.


Q. Given your many years as a surveyor, what would you say are the key and essential strengths that have held you in good stead over the decades?


Mike Schwarz tracked down one of the oldest members of the Institute and indeed probably the oldest working marine surveyor in the UK today, Ian Nicolson. Ian, who was the recipient of an IIMS Lifetime Recognition Award at the Silver Jubilee celebrations last year, says he stopped counting when he got to his 10,000th


survey


and can now boast an astonishing 71 years in


the business under his belt! In this interview, Ian reveals what has stood him in good stead over the years, his strong work ethic and how he remains just as driven as he was in his younger days – his hunger for surveying little diminished by age. In a fascinating insight into Ian’s life, he also passes on some useful and practical tips to less experienced surveyors that are worth heeding.


80 | The Report • September 2017 • Issue 81


A. I take more time over every survey than other people I know in this profession. Also in good years I put aside savings for the bad years which we all


know occur every so often. I read a lot, not just the obvious technology but also “associated” subjects, like metallurgy, strength of materials, and even a little law and so on.


Q. And with reference to the previous question, do you believe that those same strengths are what todays surveying profession still require?


A. Each person only has one lifetime of personal experience so that seems to limit the amount one can “learn on the job”. But by reading a lot, one gets the experiences of other people. In effect one lives parts of their lives and gains the associated learning.


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