Embracing a natural curiosity to learn and develop his career
Associate Member Sam Foulsham is in the early stages of his career, growing in confidence and developing his skills working as an electrician for IET Partner Playfords. He is an advocate for the value of apprenticeships and looking ahead to a career of continuous learning.
What inspired you to become an electrician?
There is not really one definite answer as to why I ended up becoming an electrician other than ‘right place, right time.’
My time at secondary school was cut short due to family circumstances. I restarted my education at a regional college when I was sixteen and enrolled on a ‘Trade Multi-skills’ course alongside doing my English and Math GCSEs.
Luckily, the electrical tutor on my course at the time was a resolute educator who made learning the subject of electrical installation captivating.
Little did I know it, this sparked (pun intended!) the beginning of an undying interest which has led me to become a fully-fledged commercial/industrial installation electrician.
Can you describe your career in engineering so far?
So far, I have had a varied career where I have worked on several short to medium-term projects such as new build schools, shopping centre extensions, LV switchboard upgrades and instrumentation works at manufacturing plants.
Having only recently qualified as an electrician, my career has comprised of my apprenticeship. During this time, I have gained a wide knowledge base about numerous technologies, engineering systems and processes including:
- Low-voltage power and lighting installations
- Poly-phase motors
- Data-communications cabling
- Instrumentation and control cabling
- Solar-voltaic arrays
- Electrical inspection and testing
I have also had the opportunity to supervise other personnel on project sites which has proved both a challenging and exhausting experience!
What has been your biggest success in your career?
Still being in an early stage of my career, I would say that passing my end point assessment (EPA) for my apprenticeship and getting signed off as an electrician has been my biggest success so far. The AM2 and its variants stand as a challenging assessment of an electrical tradesman’s skills and any person who comes out of the other side of it with a certificate should rightly feel proud of their achievement!
What has been your biggest challenge in your career?
Overcoming self-doubt and learning to trust in my own abilities has been a challenge over the years. As an apprentice, you are surrounded by many people who, at the time, appear to have a vast depth of knowledge beyond what you could ever dream of achieving. For me, it took some time to get used to the fact that you will never know absolutely everything about a subject or every way to perform a particular task and that is all right!
Especially in the last year, my confidence has grown, and I am excited about my prospects in the field of engineering.
Are there any exciting projects on which you are currently working?
Currently, I am working at the largest sugar beet processing plant in Europe, which is located near Downham Market, Norfolk. Playfords has had a presence at this site as a primary electrical contractor for 40+ years and in that time been part of some impressive large-scale projects.
The latest of these works that I have been involved with are part of a larger decarbonization effort that British Sugar has been undertaking. By upgrading plant around their factories, the company aims to reduce their Greenhouse Gas emissions footprint by 30% by 2030. The most recently completed part of this project is a new evaporator station at the Wessington factory, which has reduced the site's sugar production steam demand by 25%.
Personally, I have been involved in installing all the electrical infrastructure needed for this new evaporator including:
- Electrical containment systems
- New MCC switchboard cubicles
- DCS marshalling cubicles
- Cabling
- Three-phase induction motors
- Variable frequency drives
- Profibus
- Instrumentation such as flow meters and actuator valves.
How has your IET Membership helped you in your career so far?
Being a member of the IET has given me convenient access to information which has helped me sate my desire to acquire knowledge. I am an avid reader of the E+T magazine which gets posted through my door every month. Also, more recently I have signed up to attend some webinars which piqued my interest.
Do you have any advice for those looking for their first role in engineering and technology?
I am a big advocate for apprenticeships! They are a great way to earn recognised qualifications whilst earning and building your confidence.
Throw yourself into things when you can, and try not to be afraid of the unknown. Working in the field of engineering is challenging and a great way to develop is to get involved with difficult tasks and situations.
What does the future look like and what are your goals?
Training to be an electrician has given me a long-term purpose which, when I was in my teens, I was unsure that I would ever have.
Looking ahead, all I want to be doing is continually learning and experiencing new things. I have a natural curiosity in my field of work so I believe I will always find something to read up on!
As for goals, I would like to see myself take on some higher education, a HNC.
I am also helping to train up a first-year apprentice electrician who has been paired up with me. It is important to the industry to pass on knowledge to the next generations of workers and I am trying to be a part of that process!