Name: John Rose

Job title: Head of Mechanical Workshop

What education and qualifications do you have?

O-levels, ONC, City and Guilds Instrument Technician

Give an outline of your career so far

I worked for five years in industry, beginning with an apprenticeship in scientific instrument making. I then spent ten years in the Westminster Hospital Physics department maintaining their radiotherapy machines, and have been at the UCL-MSSL mechanical workshop for twenty years.

Why did you choose this career path?

When I left school it was a good career path with job security and prospects. There were decent firms to work for. I left industry when jobs became less secure and there were many redundancies, and moved to UCL-MSSL - I was interested in space research, and it was a nice change from being in London. In this job there are always new projects coming along and plenty of challenges.

What does your current work involve?

I manufacture parts of satellite instruments from the raw materials, help with the design process, and assemble the parts of instruments, often in clean conditions in the cleanroom (space instruments have to be made in very clean conditions). I'm currently working on the SPIRE infrared camera and spectrometer.

Hobbies and interests outside work

Photography, gardening, and spending time with my family.

John in the workshop