Young engineers

Hannah Reynolds,

26, master's degree in aircraft engineering from North Lincolnshire College, senior development engineer, British Airways. HANNAH REYNOLDS was aiming for medicine when something changed her mind. "In the final year of my physics A-level, there was a module on electronics. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to give up medicine and pursue engineering. I preferred it because it is so 'hands on.''

At British Airways, Han-nah works on the computer systems that run an aircraft, such as the cockpit displays that tell pilots what is happening in their aircraft, and allow them to control and monitor everything from the fuel to passengers' oxygen supplies. Hannah provides technical support to the avionics workshop: it is office and computer-based. When a piece of equipment is thought by the pilot to be faulty, it is taken off the aircraft and sent to the workshop for testing, usually by highly-automated, computerised test equipment. Han-nah helps design improvements to the test equipment, and to monitor trends and reliability.

"If two or three components are all failing in the same way or at the same time, we have to go to the manufacturer to talk about alternatives or solutions." Though she is studying for a master's degree in business. Hannah aims to get as broad a range of engineering experience as she can in the airline industry. Possibilities include operations, which involves work on air-craft due to fly within hours, and heavy maintenance.

At her level, Hannah is not taking a spanner to planes, but organising, scheduling, co-ordinating and providing high level technical expertise: variety is one of the main attractions of Hannah's job. "No two days are ever alike. And the engineering field is changing literally every day. There is no opportunity to get bored."

Vocabulary.

senior - старший
aim - иметь целью
enjoy - нравиться
give* up - бросать
pursue - заниматься чем-то; иметь профессию
engineering - инженерное дело, профессия
prefer - предпочитать
run an aircraft - управлять самолетом
cockpit - кабина пилота
monitor - отслеживать
fuel - топливо
oxygen supplies - запасы кислорода
provide - обеспечивать
support - поддержка
workshop - матерская
equipment - оборудование
a piece of equipment - прибор
faulty - неисправный
take* off - снять (с)
improve-ment - улучшение, усовершенствование
trend - тенденция
reliability - надежность
compo-nent - деталь
fail - не удаваться
manufacturer - производитель
solution - решение
though - хотя
master's degree - степень магистра
broad range - широкий круг
experience - опыт
include - включать
involve - включать
due to - из-за, благодаря
heavy - здесь: большой объем
maintenance - техобслуживание
spanner - гаечный ключ
schedule - составлять график
provide - обеспечивать
variety - разнообразие
attraction - привлекательная черта
alike - похожий
literally - буквально
get* bored - заскучать

Mark Lansley, 30, degree in chemical engineering from Leeds University, project engineer with Glaxochem.

MARK works in a factory making the active ingredients for antibiotics. His job is to design and build chemical plant, co-ordinating the input of a wide range of people - draftsmen, chemical, electronics and instrument engineers, people concerned with health, safety and quality - to get the plant up and running. Much work centres on equipment that is already there: "You may have to change things to meet new EC regulations or reduce costs, or to make improvements in conditions or capacity or speed." He normally works on several projects at a time. At present they include work on reducing the factory's waste, recycling chemicals, automating a repetitive job, improving a filter system to increase capacity, and the computer control of chemical plant. Different things have excited him during his career. "At first I really enjoyed doing technical things, seeing how things worked, really getting to the bottom of them. Then I got into designing equipment. Running up and down stairs to see valves open and close precisely when software I'd written said they should - it was a real thrill. "A year in production changed my outlook. I was moving away from the equipment to managing people. That gave me a new joy, to initiate an objective and then manage the people to achieve it. You need to motivate and communicate, to be enthusiastic. It's great to see someone who was not enthusiastic turn around, begin to come in early, work late, show you what they've done." Mark enjoys the pleasure of being creative, solving problems, and of producing things. He is keenly aware of his wealth-creating role. He also travels widely - to Singapore, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland: "It's glamorous. That may not be the image people have, but it is."

Vocabulary.
design - разрабатывать
plant - предприятие
input - вклад; здесь: труд
wide range - широкий круг
draftsman - разработчик проектов
concerned (with) - обеспокоенный
safety - безопасность
regulation - инструкция, постановление
reduce - сокращать
improvement - усовершенствование
condition - условие
capacity - возможность, мощность
speed - скорость
at a time - одновременно
recycling - переработка
increase capacity - увеличить мощность
excite - восхищать
get* to the bottom - добираться до сути
stair(case) - лестница
valve - клапан
precisely - точно
thrill - трепет, волнение
production - производство
outlook - взгляд
joy - удовольствие
objective - цель
achieve - добиться, достичь
motivate - заинтересовать
creative - творческий
solve problems - решать
keen - страстно жедать, стремиться
be aware (of) - знать, быть уверенным
wealth - богатство, благосостояние
glamorous - чарующий, пленительный

Christine Thompson, 24, degree in civil engineering from Loughborough University, employed by Oscar Faber TPA

TRANSPORT engineering is not just the hidden face of engineering; it is very nearly the hidden face of civil engineering, of which it is a specialisation. The sandwich placement of her degree course put Christine Thompson off "straight" civil engineering, but when she opted instead for transport, she had no idea what she had let herself in or. In explaining transport engineering, Christine likes to quote her boss: "If it moves, we're interested in it - pedestrians, cars, lorries, planes, ships." Though she considers herself a jack-of-all-trades, Christine's job has two main components: transportation modelling and traffic engineering. Transportation engineering uses computer models to predict the amount of traffic that is going to use roads. Preliminary surveys involve interviewing people about their journeys - the start, the finish, the reason. Results are fed into the computer. By adding new roads to the model of existing roads and traffic, you can see what will happen in different situations. Traffic engineering is the nitty-gritty of designing roads and junctions. Chris-tine may be called in to help sort out a junction that is not working. "After looking at cars using the junction, where they come from, where they exit, and using a computer model, a range of options is developed. They could include, for example, a new signalling sequence, or a roundabout." Christine enjoys the mix. "Modelling can take several years because of the scale and intricacy. It really takes time fully to understand what's involved. Traffic is much more immediate. short-term and intense. You might have to design a junction in a week. I do like it, but you couldn't do it all the time, you'd get worn out.'' She is learning all the time and her job offers enormous scope for specialisation. "I also feel I'm doing some good in the long run: that my work has a social value"

Vocabulary.
civil - гражданский
employed - принятый на работу
hidden - скрытый
opted (for) - предпочесть
quote - цитировать
pedestrian - пешеход
lorry - грузовик
jack-of-all-trades - знаток всех профессий
transportation - перевозки
traffic - (авто)движение
predict - предсказывать
amount - объем
preliminary - предварительный
survey - исследование
feеd*(into) - разг.: загружать (в)
adding - добавление
existing - существующий
nitty-gritty - сленг: наиболее трудоемкая и практическая часть (дела)
junction - узел; перекресток
range of options - ряд вариантов
sequence - последовательность
roundabout - окружной, обходной (путь)
scale - масштаб
intricacy - сложность, путаница
short-term - краткосрочный
get* worn out - очень устать, исчерпать
enormous - огромный
scope - объем
value - ценность, значимость

Word Study.
Ex. 1. Match the phrases with their Russian equivalents.
1. faulty equipment a/ ряд вариантов
2. social value b/ открытый клапан
3. amount of traffic c/ запасы кислорода
4. at a time d/ прибор
5. wide range (of) e/ общественная значимость
6. existing roads f/ буквально каждый день
7. repetitive job g/ неисправное оборудование
8. literally every day h/ одновременно
9. a piece of equipment j/ широкий круг
10. oxygen supplies k/ объем автодвижения
11. open valve l/ существующие дороги
12. range of options m/ монотонная работа

Ex. 2. Match the phrases with their Russian equivalents.
1. to quote smb. a/ оказывать поддержку
2. to increase capability b/ проводить техобслуживание
3. to be alike c/ управлять самолетом
4. to increase productivity d/ изменить свои взгляды
5. to provide maintenance e/ предпочесть что-то чему-то
6. to run an aircraft f/ добраться до сути
7. to pursue engineering g/ быть похожим
8. to change one's outlook h/ цитировать кого-то
9. to reduce wastes i/ увеличить производительность
10. to opt smth for smth j/ выбрать профессию инженера
11. to provide support k/ увеличить мощность
12. to get to the bottom l/ сократить кол-во отходов

Ex. 3. Translate the following sentences into English.
1. Мне так понравился курс электроники, что я решила бросить медицину и выбрать профессию инженераю
2. Ханна работает на компьютерными системами, которые управляют самолетами.
3. Эти системы позволяют пилотам контролировать и отслеживать все - от топлива до запасов кислорода.
4. Ханна обеспечивает техническую поддержку авиамастерской.
5. Когда пилот считает, что какой-то прибор неисправен, этот прибор снимают с самолета и отправляют на проверку.
6. Если 2-3 детали дают одновременно одинаковый сбой, нам приходится вести переговоры с производителем и находить решение.
7. Ханна не берет в руки гаечный ключ, ее круг обязанностей и без того широк.
8. Обязанность Марка - координировать деятельность (вклад) людей в работу (running) предприятием.
9. Он работает над несколькими проектами одновременно.
10. В настоящее время они занимаются вопросами сокращения отходов производства, переработки химических веществ, автоматизации монотонного труда, улучшения системы фильтрации и увеличения мощности предприятия.
11. Год работы на производстве изменил его взгляды.
12. Марку нравится работать творчески, принимать решения и производить разные вещи.
13. Объясняя работу транспортного инженера, Кристина любит цитировать своего начальника.
14. Кристина считает себя знатоком всех специальностей, но две основные области ее специализации - это моделирование перевозок и движения транспорта.
15. Она учится все время, и ее работа предлагает огромный объем специализации.

Comprehension Check.
Answer the following questions.
1. Why did Hannah decide to give up medicine?
2. What are her duties at work?
3. What is done when a pilot considers some piece of equipment to be faulty?
4. Where does Mark work?
5. What is he busy with at present?
6. What for does he like his job?
7. What does transport engineering deal with?
8. What are Christine's duties at work?

Topics to Discuss.
1. Aircraft Engineering (speak as if you were Hannah Reynolds).
2. Chemical Engineering (speak as if you were Mark Lansley).
3. Transportation Engineering (speak as if you were Christine Thompson).