Earlier this year, we interviewed junior members of staff who are making a big difference here at Keighley Laboratories.
We sat down with Andy, a lab technician, who told us about his daily duties, experiences and his early career path and where he sees himself in the future.
Hi my name is Andy, and I’m a lab technician for Keighley Laboratories
What are your duties?
My duties involve mechanical testing, usually tensile and compressions, impacts and hardness.
Does your Job vary day-to-day?
It’s varied, the materials we get in, can come from things like the beginning of the production line to the end, is the material fit for purpose? So it is generally the same thing but for different applications, which is interesting.
Describe working here in 3 words
In three words; professional, it’s definitely interesting and engaging I would say, it’s not really easy, you have to be switched on.
What’s your favourite part of your role
For me knowing what I’m testing, what it’s going into. For example, bolts going into bridges, that I could maybe one day be driving along or walking along, stuff like that I find interesting.
What’s the atmosphere like?
Good community, we all sort of help each other out when it’s needed. It’s good, I enjoy it here!
Do you have prior experience in the industry?
No, so I didn’t do engineering. I did do it at secondary school, since then I have done a few jobs, which I kind of went down the route of technology, that kind of thing, hands-on and I ended up here through word of mouth and I’ve never looked back.
Have you done any learning whilst here?
Currently, I am on an apprenticeship, it’s a general engineering Level 3 with pathways into quality control and whilst I’ve been here, I’ve been doing welding inspection and I believe it will lead on to non-destructive testing, which is a bit of a follow on from my current role here.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Further down the non-destructive testing route, I hope! That’s where I want to go to, follow on from the welding inspection, that’s my aspiration I guess!!
What are you excited about in your role?
Progression to be honest. It’s never-ending, you can probably say yes to too many things and become quite swamped under, it’s definitely interesting, there is a lot to keep you going and focus on.
