Under the Nottingham Spirk Innovation Center’s roof is a bevy of talented employees. Some are outdoor adventurers and some are musicians. We have dedicated parents and car enthusiasts. Vegans and hunters, dreamers and pragmatists. Every few months we will feature an employee in the Employee Spotlight section to give you a small glimpse into the daily lives of our employees. Today it's Nick’s turn.
Tell us a little about yourself (interests, family, etc.): I like to play golf and go biking, take on aggressive home remodeling projects, initiate new landscaping projects, and most of all, I love doing stuff with my children. From teaching them how to build and fix stuff around the home to team coaching their many sporting activities. And of course I like to travel. We have had many memorable family vacations to the Grand Canyon, Disney World, Yucatan Peninsula, etc.
Title at Nottingham Spirk: Program Director – Engineering Team
In your words, describe your position:
In its simplest form, I am a Mechanical Engineer, providing traditional engineering support on small programs to very large ones.
In a more complex form, I interact with nearly every phase of a development program, from brainstorming early ideas to preliminary engineering CAD layouts, and from final engineering designs to very accurate proof of concept prototyping. I have grown to be the architect of our Engineering CAD and CAM department, making sure the latest hardware and software tools are available to aid our engineering efforts. Also, I research and implement new in-house capabilities such as: additive rapid prototyping, new CNC machining equipment, laser cutters, etc. These in-house capabilities are crucial to meeting tight consulting deadlines.
Nick in Nottingham Spirk’s prototype lab
Describe an “ah ha!” moment at NS: An engineering design idea could be the greatest idea in the world, but if program deadlines aren’t met and products do not make it to the store shelves in a timely manner, then we have failed. Success means getting products to market which equates to profits for our clients.
Describe an “ugh!” moment at NS: Travel to Asia to solve technical issues on short notice equals one very cranky wife, Annie. Translation: In the end, as consultants, we will do everything possible to achieve program success.
Sorry, Annie, I’ll make it up to you with a trip to Hawaii. LOL.
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