Bryony has been with us for almost two years. She is one of our Senior Design and Development Engineers and she runs our flume and tank testing programme. We caught up with her and asked her a few questions about what attracted her to Marine Power Systems, what she is working on now and the role that testing plays in developing our technology.
What attracted you to the role at Marine Power Systems?
Working on projects that have a positive impact on the world motivates me and I believe what we do here at Marine Power Systems will absolutely do that. The environment at MPS is fast paced and exciting, and one which brings a wide variety of interesting technical challenges. It’s a very like-minded team and one where there is give and take. We are happy to challenge one another’s thinking, equally, we spur one another on and work together to achieve great results. They also understand that to catch the tide and a great swell you might occasionally need to adjust your hours slightly!
What are you working on at the moment?
I lead our small-scale testing programme and that includes both flume and tank testing.
We use this type of testing regularly to validate our simulation models and inform our design decisions. This has been hugely beneficial to the development of our unique, patented wind and wave energy generation technology. At the moment I am working on building further complexity into our control software and increasing the accuracy of our testing of important design variables at increasing scale to optimise our technology.
I am working at the word class testing facility at Plymouth University’s COAST lab. This state-of-the-art facility allows us to replicate both offshore wind and wave energy in parallel which has been crucial for the development of our unique combined wind and wave device. I am also using the wave flume at Swansea University’s Coastal Engineering Laboratory.
How do you think your previous experience and approach benefits Marine Power Systems?
Following my Masters in Mechanical Engineering I spent 6 years working in high tech research and development and I have built up a lot of experience in developing prototypes and testing those in dynamic systems. One of the things I enjoy most about my role is bridging the theoretical, the resulting simulation and the real-world testing that follows.
Whilst that allows us to validate the theory and simulation, it also provides a really powerful development tool in its own right. We collaborate with academic and industry partners to support the testing and development process. As such we ensure we always put the best minds on the problem, and we build in all of the complexity required to solve that problem and inform the ongoing detailed design work.
What about when you are out of the office?
Like a lot of the team here I enjoy getting outdoors, especially in or on the water. I’m a passionate surfer and I volunteer with Surfability; a charity that takes anyone with additional needs and their family surfing. Last summer I managed to combine both the day job and my volunteering in one, when the MPS Team volunteered for two days as part of a ‘DIY SOS project’ to build new premises for the Surfability team! That was really special for me and hugely rewarding for the MPS Team to support the local community.
Find our more about Surfability and the work that they do