Day in the Life

Chartered Mechanical Engineer

  • Name:Michael Terrell
  • Location:Devonport
  • Sector:Nuclear

My favourite part of the job:

I love the fact that my job is working on-board submarines at Devonport Royal Dockyard. It’s a project involving more than 2,000 people and 2.2 million man hours.

Most challenging thing I’ve ever done:

Every day is different with varied challenges. The biggest one I’ve overcome so far was achieving my long-term goal of becoming a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.

My typical day:

I joined Babcock in October 2007 as a graduate engineer and have successfully achieved chartership with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Now I’m a Senior Engineer working in the Submarine Business Unit.

My role is to manage the mechanical and constructive production processes, and co-ordinate procedures, for refitting and repairing reactor systems on submarines.

The key to starting my day right is to have a good morning routine, getting a thorough handover and the necessary information to plan for a successful day.

I go on board the submarine to sort out an issue and check progress, before visiting the Project Team to check the delivery forecast for items on order.

At the daily progress meetings, I brief all key stakeholders on how we’re doing.

At the end of the day, I hand over activities to the backshift Senior Engineers and prepare for tomorrow.