"Giving back to the industry will give back to you, in strange and interesting ways you weren’t expecting" - #IamCIBSE


I am a Mechanical Engineer 

I am the CIBSE Yorkshire and YEN Yorkshire Vice Chair

I am giving back to the building services industry


Raymond Knights LCIBSE EngTech is a Mechanical Engineer at FHPP, as well as Vice Chair for the CIBSE Yorkshire Region and Young Engineers Network (YEN) in Yorkshire. We asked him to tell his story on how he entered the building services industry and what it’s like supporting the CIBSE Yorkshire region.

On getting into building services….
I fell into the building services industry by complete accident. I spent a year working on a building site as a site operative. As I was working directly for the main contractor, I worked with nearly every trade on site in some capacity and was introduced to most aspects of site life. I really enjoyed this job and decided I would pursue a career in construction.

From here I went into Leeds College of Building looking at Apprentice routes. By chance I ended up speaking with the course leader for the Building Services Engineering HND course who suggested that given my age and experience I would be better suited to the HND rather than doing an Apprenticeship. This was probably the best advice I’ve ever listened to and I have never looked back. If you’re reading this, thanks Mike!
It’s hard to say what the best part of my job is but I really enjoy the wide variety of people I work with. Most of the work I do is construction design so in one conversation I can be talking to members of the project design team and the next I’m co-ordinating site works. It’s great fun!

On being part of CIBSE…
I got involved with CIBSE in 2016 and was introduced by the YEN Chair at the time, Paul Binns. As the Yorkshire Region Vice-Chair, I’m responsible for supporting the Chair in all official duties, this ends up being anything and everything that is required of the committee.

General duties include chairing committee meetings and taking minutes, organising CPD events, organising social events, attending careers evening in schools and anything else in between.

Being part of CIBSE has presented a number of professional opportunities to me that have helped steer my career thus far. The key point is the number of people I have met, and contacts made, which would not have happened without being involved in CIBSE.

In November 2017, the CIBSE YEN Chairs and Vice Chairs were sent to Dubai for the International YEN Conference. This has by far been my highlight of being part of CIBSE. A close second is the CIBSE Yorkshire Awards where industry professionals from across Yorkshire come together for an evening of celebration. It’s a lot of hard work putting this event on, but on the night, we have a great time and get to enjoy a few beers and enjoy the festivities


What advice would you give to someone considering getting involved with CIBSE & YEN?
Just get involved! Don’t look at getting involved as a ‘what’s in this for me’ situation. Giving back to the industry will give back to you, in strange and interesting ways you weren’t expecting.


Fancy joining the CIBSE Yorkshire Committee? Contact regions@cibse.org
Find out what’s going on in CIBSE Yorkshire

The #IamCIBSE campaign aims to celebrate the dedicated and committed individuals working within the building services industry. Explore the #IamCIBSE campaign

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Face-to-face or remote training?

Image
With the return to the office and the ‘new normal’ of hybrid working, we have seen the reintroduction of face-to-face training. However remote courses, which enable people to be trained virtually have remained popular, with people expecting both types of training to be available. For corporate training there is no extra travelling required by employees, for either face-to-face or remote training. You can choose your own date and time, and the content can be delivered in either format. So, what are the differences between the two learning options? Preference. The main criterium for choosing face-to-face or remote training is based on people’s concentration level, preferred style of interaction, the learning environment and their digital knowledge, or simply, some people just prefer one learning format to another. Focus. People’s attention span varies. Some people concentrate better when they have someone speaking physically in front of them, whilst others find it easier to follow if t
Read more

Embodied Carbon Award: A step towards net zero carbon

Image
Now in its 15th year, the CIBSE Building Performance Awards is the only awards scheme to celebrate the measured performance of projects and products in use while celebrating the engineering consultancies and manufacturers that are contributing to a low carbon future. Michael Lonsdale Group won the Embodied Carbon Award for its pioneering work with suppliers to create a database of low embodied carbon products that enable it to recommend low carbon building services systems to its clients.  We heard from Michael Lonsdale Group about what this award means to them: Caption: Senior Environmental & Sustainability Manager, Joanna Constandis (right) and Engineering Services Director, Paul Cornwell (left) collecting the Embodied Carbon Award at BPA2022. Industries and businesses throughout the globe have begun to show ownership of their environmental agendas. The significance of the topic has been realised, identifying the need for progress towards Net Zero Carbon. So, when Dame Jo da Silv
Read more

CIBSE Role Models - Emeka Efe Osaji

Image
The CIBSE Role Model series is intended to shine a spotlight on members of our building services community from under-represented groups and backgrounds to inspire and promote diversity amongst future engineers.  As part of our Role Model series this month, we speak to Emeka Efe Osaji a Teaching Fellow in Architectural Technology at the University of Salford, and Treasurer of the CIBSE Energy Performance Group. My name is Emeka Efe Osaji. Personally, I am a son, brother, husband, dad, uncle, nephew, cousin, in-law, and friend. Professionally, I am a Teaching Fellow in Architectural Technology at the University of Salford. I am lucky to be a 2nd-generation Academic, Researcher and Consultant. The steps taken by my parents and others have helped provide me with the right support network and prerequisite direction and clarity. I have kindly received recognition for my humble contributions, including in areas, such as: (1) Energy Certification Compliance Knowledge Transfer; (2) Teaching Ex
Read more