Profile
Charles Douch
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About Me:
I live with my partner in Plymouth. When not working as a project engineer I like to spend my time outside hiking or in the sea.
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I am a chartered engineer who loves to learn how things work. I have worked in medical manufacturing, luxury yacht manufacturing, and food manufacturing. All very different but equally awesome.
When I was 13 years old a couple friends and I entered a competition to design and build a small race car to race against other schools. This experience showed me how fun engineering can be and got me interested in engineering as a career.
When not at work I love to be outside exploring. My partner is a marine biologist so is able to teach me so much about the natural world and how to protect it.
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My pronouns are:
he/him
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My Work:
Project Engineer for a global medical technology manufacturing company. I install machinery that manufacture and/or test blood collection tubes and needles. Equipment I have installed range from robots to mechanical conveyors.
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The company I work for manufacture a lot of medical equipment, used all over the world. The site I work at manufactures blood collection tubes and needle products. My job as a Project engineer is to design and install equipment to manufacture these products. Equipment I have installed range from robots to mechanical conveyors. I very much enjoy getting to play with new technologies and understand and improve manufacturing processes.
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My Typical Day:
I wake up at 7am and have breakfast. Then say goodbye to my partner and our cat before getting to work for 8am. At work I will have a lot of meetings with many different people and make sure equipment I am installing will work as required. I leave work at 4:30pm and go to the gym before going home.
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The great thing about my job is that each day is very different. My days can include the following:
- Work with tools to build and install equipment
- Work with people across the world to design equipment
- Write reports and procedures
- Conduct safety risk assessments
- Use computer aided design software to model and design equipment
- Present to people all over the world
- Volunteer at local schools
- Train people
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Would love to use the money to work with the primary school I went to when I was young to work with them to complete fun STEM activities. I have a lot of good memories of my primary school and would love to be able to give something back.
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Education:
GCSE’s & A Levels – The Gryphon School (Dorset)
University Degree – University of Exeter (Devon)
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Qualifications:
GCSE’s – 1 A*, 6A’s, 4 B’s, 1 C
A Levels – A (Maths), B (Further Maths), B (Business studies), C (Physics)
Degree/Masters – MEng Mechanical Engineering
Chartered Engineer – CEng MIMechE (Institute of Mechanical Engineers)
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Work History:
Research Assistant – University of Exeter
- Developed a knee brace looking to remove forces in the knee
Group Technical Manager – Hunt’s Foodservice
- Ran a quality team in charge of food safety
Manufacturing Engineer – Princess Yachts
- Process improvements to the luxury yacht manufacturing process
Project Engineer – BD
- Introduce new manufacturing equipment
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Current Job:
Project Engineer for BD, a global medical technology manufacturing company.
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Employer:
BD (Becton Dickinson)
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Inquisitive Chartered Engineer
What did you want to be after you left school?
Work in any job where I am able to continually learn new things and understand how things work.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
I played a lot of sport at school so would get in trouble for missing classes and not completing homework because of sport.
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Environmental research scientist
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Arctic Monkeys
What's your favourite food?
Ice Cream
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Have my own ice cream parlour. Have Spiderman's powers. A happy and healthy child (my partner is currently pregnant!)
Tell us a joke.
What do you call a chicken looking at lettuce. A chicken Caesar salad.
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