Ian Chandler

Why did you apply for this job?

I was fascinated by civil engineering, and the mix of research and consultancy drew me to HR Wallingford. I came across the organisation whilst still studying for my PhD and it seemed a good place to start my career. HR Wallingford offered me a permanent job, whereas if I had stayed in academia I would have had a short-term contract. I fell in love with HR Wallingford almost instantly and have stayed since I joined in 2012.

What has kept you at HR Wallingford? 

A mix of things. 

Firstly, the people. I like how everyone is so accepting of questions and willing to help. Right from when I started, I could walk up to people who literally wrote the book on a subject, and they were always happy to help. 

Also, I like the mix of consultancy and research, and the balance of office and physical modelling work. I love getting into the lab, which isn’t always possible elsewhere, and I like sharing knowledge with other people.

I really enjoy the variety of the work. Every single project is different, particularly in the modelling hall, even when we are looking at a similar issue, such as overtopping, armour stability or the erosion of scour protection. How you set up a model, how it responds and how we interpret the results, and then explain to the client in a clear way is unique to each project.

I also like watching our scale models turn into structures that help people. It’s cool to know that a breakwater should survive for 100+ years because of the modelling work that we've done to demonstrate it.  
 

Do you feel more confident than you did when you started out?

A lot more confident. I think they took a little bit of a risk employing me because I didn’t have a background in numerical modelling and that was what I was originally employed to do. I had a steep learning curve in 3D numerical modelling, but actually that was similar to the other people involved in the project because it was a new piece of software that we were developing.

How has your job changed over the years?

After we finished the two-year software development project, I worked more on physical modelling, which I’d always been interested in. For a while my work was predominantly in the modelling hall. Then I did a mix of both of physical modelling projects and computational fluid dynamic projects. As time went on, I got more into project management roles, and gradually moved up to where I am now – a principal engineer.

Nowadays, I focus more on managing projects in the office, and only spend about 20% of my time in the lab. Most days there'll be a reason to go to the lab though. 

I recently changed groups internally, and moved from working on coastal structures such as breakwaters to offshore structures, for example monopiles for wind turbines. It’s still pretty much the same job, just in a different group, for a different set of client with a different set of structures.

Do you prefer being at home or in the office and lab?

I prefer being in the office and lab, as I can't do a lot of my job at home and I enjoy the office environment – especially the fact that you have random conversations with people that can be really helpful. You might be talking to one person about a project when somebody else walks past who can chip in because they did something similar a few years ago. It’s also useful for new people to be in the office.

But I do sometimes work from home – it’s great to have that flexibility around childcare, school runs and such.

Where would you be now if you weren’t a coastal engineer?

I would have probably become a university lecturer because I love sharing knowledge so much. 

What do you enjoy outside of work?
   
Mostly family stuff, and I enjoy going for a cycle ride. I cycle to work too.

Ian Chandler was interviewed by Lili Kirkpatrick while on work experience at HR Wallingford.