Meet our members
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Cameron Steel
Senior electrical design engineer
"I like the fact that I start with a blank piece of paper and then can watch my design being turned into reality."
Profile
Parsons Brinckerhoff is a multinational design consultancy. Cameron is involved with the design and management of a wide variety of building services projects for Government, the Police and education, transportation and defence industries. This involves him taking a brief from the client, then working with the architects and other services to design the electrical systems for the building. He must then supervise the building contractor to ensure that all projects are completed to the client’s satisfaction.
As part of this role, Cameron has worked on projects as diverse as the electrical design of a new helicopter maintenance depot for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, fire control systems at Victoria and Liverpool Street stations and induction loop systems for the hard of hearing at the University of Surrey. He has even worked on the electrical systems in Victoria Tower, at the Palace of Westminster – no mean feat bearing in mind that the building is listed!
Career History
One of the high points of Cameron’s career so far has been his work on the new five storey Queen Charlotte and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, whilst at the Richard Stephens Partnership. He explains, “I think that was the highlight of my career so far. I worked on the electrical design throughout the whole building, its interface with the Hammersmith Hospital and on the neighbouring research block for Imperial College and helped to supervise while it was being built. It was very satisfying to walk through the building after it had opened and see all the facilities in use. I like the fact that I start with a blank piece of paper and then can watch my design being turned into reality.”
Cameron started his electrical engineering career with the Army where, after leaving school, he undertook a full time Electrical Engineering Apprenticeship with the Royal Engineers. Working in the Army took him all over the world undertaking a variety of different electrical jobs, and he ended up as a Lance Corporal. During his time in the Army, Cameron studied for various City and Guilds qualifications and gained an ONC in Electrical Engineering.
The IET
After leaving the Army, Cameron decided that he wanted to further his engineering qualifications and studied for a HND in Engineering, where he got several distinctions. With this qualification under his belt, Cameron moved to Scotland to work for a family owned electrical contracting company. Here he was responsible for the design, planning and installation of contracts in industrial, commercial, office and domestic buildings. It was at this point in his career that Cameron qualified as an IEng through the Institution of Incorporated Engineers, now the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
With this confirmation of his skills and experience under his belt, he was able to break into electrical design work. He adds, “Professional institutions really give you a back-up to your career progress. Membership of the institution and the professional qualifications give you status and recognition for the work you’ve done. Clients know that you are competent and qualified. I’m now starting the mature candidate route to CEng to further build on my qualifications.”
“I have got a lot out of membership of my Institution because I’ve put a lot in. I joined the Construction and Building Services Group to share knowledge about my industry with others working in the field. I’m now a Panel member, helping to organise events and advising the Institution on my specialist areas. The networking aspect has always been extremely useful to me and I can see that if you worked in a small office or on your own it would be invaluable.”