Tom Brinkley

A highly motivated graduate mechanical engineer who has achieved a 2:1 classification. I have 4 years of experience using Solidworks in university and sixth form. Solidworks was used for many modules throughout my degree most notably where I was posted on the design team as part of my final year group engineering project.

During this project, I completed finite element analysis and fatigue analysis on multiple design iterations. Throughout my placement year as a Production Engineer at Pontrilas Sawmills, I was stationed within the Hardwood Mill my primary focus was process improvement in this area. I started in August 2021 and at the same time, Pontrilas Sawmills invested in a PAUL Edger.

The purpose of this was to eradicate manual handling and move towards an automated process. I undertook a downtime analysis of the new edger and made weekly Pareto charts quantifying the most significant downtime contributors then developed solutions to eliminate these issues.

During my placement year as a Production Engineer at Pontrilas Sawmills I:

• Assisted the maintenance team in moving from a reactive maintenance strategy to a more beneficial, planned, preventative one.
• Taught engineers how to use the ShireSystem (CMMS) program.
• Performed downtime analysis to uncover areas of the process that needed improvement.
• Regularly assessed saw blades on a PAUL Edger and changed them whenever required.
• Taught other staff members how to change the saw blades with a prime focus on safety aspects.

My other experience includes:

1. Completed the Elecosoft ShireSystems CMMS super user course.
2. 5 years’ experience using Microsoft Office.
3. 4 years experience using Solidworks.
4. Full clean driving license.
5. FAA Level 3 Award in First Aid at Work (RQF)

Harper Adams University - Mechanical Engineering, BEng

Harper Adams Engineering courses offer a more applied approach to engineering and focus on the land-based sector. Students studying engineering learn about engineering with the use of certain theoretical and practical modules and tasks. This allows students to gain knowledge in an applied context.

The JCB Academy - National Diploma in Engineering, Extended Project Qualification and Level 3 Mathematics.

Studying at the JCB Academy has enabled me to undertake various real world-based engineering problems. I have previously completed a hydraulics project alongside Bosch Rexroth whereby I studied both the maintenance and safety of the operation of the London Eye. In addition to this, I did an electronics project alongside Ultra Electronics, whereby I built and tested a series of electronic circuits that would be used as an underwater sonar system on a submarine.