• Question: What is the hardest thing you've done as an engineer?

    Asked by Luke to Ross, Tom, Dean, Abi Aspen, Blanca on 6 Mar 2016. This question was also asked by Lexi2006, Wilbur, leah, Maisie and Bradley.
    • Photo: Abi Aspen Glencross

      Abi Aspen Glencross answered on 6 Mar 2016:

      So far?

      Actually finding funding for the PhD, both intellectually and emotionally.

      My supervisors and I had to put together a proposal for research funding which required in depth knowledge of the field. Luckily my final year MEng project was based on cultured meat so I had a prior knowledge (that project only left me crying in the toilets once when I couldn’t get a sum right, so that’s not too bad :D)

      Also dealing with the reality that this project may never get funded so I went with the motto ‘expect the best, but prepare for the worst’ which was emotionally draining.

      However the AMAZING feeling when it all came together and the hard work paid off was worth it. Anything worth having in life is worth fighting for!

    • Photo: Tom Bullock

      Tom Bullock answered on 6 Mar 2016:

      One of the hardest things was trying to understand how and why a bread snack was going off (rancid) before the end of its shelf life. All the normal tests we do didn’t come to a sensible conclusion which makes it difficult to decide what to do to fix it. I’ve been working on it for about 6 months now and still haven’t solved the mystery, but I’m trying out some ideas of improvements to make so hopefully it will help. The real challenge its analysing all the information and data we gather about the process, the raw ingredients, the analytical tests and sensory taste tests. Like answer is in there, but I can I find it?!

    • Photo: Dean Miles

      Dean Miles answered on 7 Mar 2016:

      Single handedly managing a line relocation from one factory to another while also introducing robotic technology which had never been used on the line before.
      Lots and lots of hours and weekends were put into the project to ensure the products launched on time and were made to the correct output and waste levels. It was very demanding but also very rewarding at the end when it all worked.
      I still walk past the line with a smile thinking back about the tough times.

    • Photo: Ross Miller

      Ross Miller answered on 8 Mar 2016:

      I had a project where I was making chocolate bars by hand for around 6 weeks. There were only two of us making hundreds of samples and keeping track of exactly when they were made, how they were made, what batch they came and what batch they came from. It got a little stressful as one of us had to do lots of lab tests at the same time.

      The days were physically draining and stressful. But we got through it and got some interesting results! Worth it!

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