Andrew Robb talks about his experiences in the Life Sciences Industry with LifeScan
What did you do at school?
I studied five Scottish Highers during my 5th year at school; these were English, Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Geography. I stayed for sixth year as well and completed an Advanced Higher in Physics, a Higher in Business Management, and modules in PE and music.
What path did you follow when you finished school?
When I finished school I applied for engineering courses at Glasgow, Strathclyde and Edinburgh Universities. In the end I decided to go for Aero-Mechanical Engineering at Strathclyde. Originally I planned on doing a 4-year BEng with Honours, but as time went on I saw the benefits of doing the extra year and gaining the Masters degree.
What led you to a career in engineering?
I have always been quite a hands-on person and so I liked the idea of a job where I wouldn’t necessarily be behind a computer screen all day. When I decided that I wanted to go to uni, I read through hundreds of course descriptions and, in the main, everything seemed to be essay based which wasn’t really my cup of tea. When I read the description of the course that I ended up choosing, I saw that there would be modules in taking apart car engines, design and build of a remote control aircraft, flying courses at a local gliding school and it sounded much more like the kind of thing that I wanted to be involved in. Due to this, engineering seemed the logical route for me to take.
What do you like about the industry?
The most important thing to me is that I’m not doing the same thing every day. I’m currently doing a rotation within our Operations Engineering department and am working, mainly, on the manufacturing processes. This could involve improving the processes, fixing/redesigning components when they break, etc.
Of course, there is also the fact that engineers are always in demand and that there is the option of working anywhere in the world. One factor that helped me choose Lifescan was that they are owned by Johnson & Johnson and so the potential to work in different countries and cultures would always be there.
What advice would you give to someone considering a career as an engineer?
If you are looking to go down the university approach, I would really recommend trying to get some actual work experience as part of your course or during your summer holidays. When you go along to interviews/assessments centres, everyone turns up with similar degrees and you really need to stand out in order to be remembered. The university careers advisors are very good at helping to organise these things, but they are not hard to find - go to a company’s website and generally there will be a summer student scheme or at least a contact of some sort.
What is involved in your day to day job?
Currently I am doing an 8-month rotation within Operations Engineering. Within a week of starting work I was given a project, which was my responsibility. This involved physically merging product lines together in order to increase our capacity and to lean out the various processes.
In addition, I’ll pick up mini-projects as and when they appear. These could involve simple fixes to help out operators, dealing with more complex issues that may arise unexpectedly or assisting other Engineers with their project work. As I mentioned earlier, it is not so much a repetitive day to day job – for my project I will be doing different things every day; talking to suppliers, planning out equipment moves, communicating what is happening to affected parties, and so on.
What do you do in your spare time? I.e. hobbies and passions
Away from work, I like to think of myself as an active person. I’m very much into my football and play regularly. I’m also an avid Inverness Caledonian Thistle fan, although currently it’s looking grim as we are down by the foot of the table. I also play a bit of golf.
I am a bit of a film buff, and like to get to the cinema as often as I can. Finally, there is always the obligatory visit to the pub at the end of a hard week’s work!
