Reliability: why is it important and what could a career path in industry look like?
This lecture, presented by Reliability professionals in government and industry, aims to give interested listeners an introduction as to what Reliability is, why it is important and how individuals could pursue a career path in the domain.
- Event Time
- 27 Apr 14:00 - 27 Apr 16:00
- Event Location
- Schuster Building: Moseley Lecture Theatre Oxford Road Manchester M13 9PL
- Event Type
- Business speakers
Reliability is important to us all. It is integral to meet our expectations of the use of technology that we use every day as civilians or in the military.
This lecture, presented by Reliability professionals in government and industry, aims to give interested listeners an introduction as to what Reliability is, why it is important and how individuals could pursue a career path in the domain. The session will cover key definitions that govern the measure of a systems’ reliability and case studies of what can happen when Reliability is not given enough focus during the design and operation of a system.
The speakers will draw upon their own experiences of working in the Reliability domain, and how a potential career path can be developed in this area in the private and public sectors.
The Speakers
Nick Barnett (CEng, FSaRS, DE&S Specialist Fellow) is the Chief Reliability Engineer for Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) the agency responsible for the provision and support of all equipment for the UK Armed Forces. He leads a team of Reliability and Maintainability (R&M) specialists who are responsible for providing advice and guidance to all MOD project teams identifying systemic issues, opportunities for improvement to both methodology and policy / guidance documentation and for delivering those improvements.
He is a Chartered Engineer and a fellow of the UK Safety and Reliability Society. He has 27 years’ experience in the field of reliability and maintainability, starting as a desk officer in 1995. In 2005 he was selected to take on the team leader role, a post that he still holds today. He was awarded a post graduate certificate in Reliability and Maintainability by the University of Strathclyde in 2005.
Robert Smithers (MEng, MIMechE) is a Senior Reliability Consultant at SNC Lavalin’s Atkins business. He graduated from the University of Manchester in 2015 with an MEng in Aerospace Engineering with Management. He has 7 years’ experience leading technical Reliability and Maintainability (R&M)consultancy work with Atkins, engaging with various defence related clients such as the MOD, IBM and Thales UK. He also instructs on Atkins’ R&M familiarisation course.
