It’s the people to whom this task falls, the engineers, or lack thereof, that worries me the most. The UK’s yearly deficit of 60,000 engineers is growing all the time. If we don’t develop the next generation of engineers, we won’t have enough people capable of tackling the world’s problems.
It’s essential we encourage invention at school if we are to foster the kind of skills that will let Britain earn its place in the world and develop the technology we so desperately need. Without armies of design engineers, we’ll simply be left behind.
How do you go about developing/nurturing engineering talent, and which fields of engineering do you consider to be priorities?
JD: All fields of engineering are priorities! We are especially interested in motor and electronics engineers to work on our digital motors – small, fast electric motors that use Artificial Intelligence to spin at up to 110,000 rpm.
These motors will power our future pipeline of technology – beyond vacuums and hand-dryers.
At Dyson, we place faith in youth and inexperience, chucking our engineers in at the deep end right away. Young minds are unafraid to take risks and are willing to try different ideas – they aren’t sullied by other companies. These young engineers quickly pick up new skills and engineering insights down in the research and development labs. Graduates have always been at the core of Dyson – I developed Dyson’s first vacuum cleaner in a coach house in Bath with three graduates from the Royal College of Art.
How do you keep your engineers not only ‘constantly innovating’ but focused on the economics of getting commercialisation right?
JD: Our focus is always on the technology. People want machines that last longer and work better than anything else out there – and it’s something they are willing to invest in. So that’s what we focus on – developing technologies that keep us ahead of the pack.
Do you see a greater role for the state in R&D and the commercialisation of technologies in the future?
JD: I’ve always believed that engineers rather than politicians will save the planet. Regulation is only good when it incentivises technological improvement or furthers research and development, challenging engineers to look to new horizons. It should direct engineers to create high-performing technology that uses fewer materials and less energy. Too often, it becomes a box-ticking exercise or a legal hurdle for companies to jump, undermining the very aim it set out to achieve.
As a constant innovator yourself, are there particular areas where you feel the mining industry could learn things from other industrial sectors?
JD: Mining is not an industry where I have specialist knowledge, but I think developments in 3D printing and mapping technology could have a big impact. At Dyson, we are now able to digitally conceive a complex prototype – and to test it digitally before we even start to put it together. Mining is of course on a much bigger scale – but I think the same lessons may apply in many cases… such as being able to test a model digitally before even putting a first shovel in the ground.
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