Get ahead in marine equipment design by going sailing

How did you get into marine equipment design as a career choice?

I don't know if you've ever seen the movie called A Series of Unfortunate Events? Violet, the eldest daughter, is MacGyver character who invents things to keep the kids safe against the bad deeds of Jim Carrey’s Count Olaf. I found her ingenuity relatable and wanted to be the kid with all the solutions and gadgets.

Then when I was 18 and went sailing and I realised that like all boating is reliant on MacGyvering to engineer something more efficient. In yacht racing the most efficient boat is going to win the race and I love the competition of that. I realised that all the best sailors are professionals as well – sail makers, riggers, hydraulics experts and so on, bringing their skills to bear to make the boat go faster.

That led to me wanting to be a rigger. I went to work for Rigging Projects around the time it launched the headboard car, which was the coolest bit of hardware that you could have on your boat then. My awareness of the research, design and manufacturing effort involved in hardware on high performance yachts grew. I found I wanted to be involved in that process. Ultimately that led me to entering Bournemouth University in the UK aged 25. Educational decisions I made seven years before meant I could not study my preference – design engineering. So, I took a product design degree instead.

What was it like making this change in your career and going back to school?

I ended up doing two years of designing kids’ toys, clocks and other stuff that I wasn't passionate about. But in my final year, we were able to choose our own project and I designed my Aloft device, conceived to improve the safety of people working at height on yachts. I learned a lot. It was super stressful working alone and I realised how valuable it is to have a team of people all contributing to the idea and solving problems together when creating complex hardware. I also realised how junior I was in the field of design. It was quite an adjustment, from knowing I was good at sailing to realising I was starting out in a new field as a beginner (even with a First Class Honours degree).

I’ve since learned to be gentle on myself and accept I only graduated less than a year ago. I am allowed to not know the answer and learn some more as I grow into my design role. I also know I need to put in the hard effort to do better!

Which company did you choose to join after graduation?

I worked for IO Developments + Engineering (IODE) which is based in the Netherlands. There are just two people in the business currently –the founder, Alex Runciman and me. We both spin all the plates for everything. It’s been a crash course on learning how to run a small business where there is no-one else to do all the many small and larger jobs that are necessary to function.

At its core IODE works in marine electronics, predominantly sensor networks for big rigs, load sensors and proximity sensors for locks. We create the infrastructure to transport sensor information through to the instrumentation.

My background and passion though are hardware focused and Alex is supportive in developing that side of the business also. Our first hardware launch was the EASYfeed, a curved track entry system that offers an easier access point for loading mainsail cars. It’s a bit like a ski slope, with a bend and taper on the end. It provides a much larger area to put the car on the track, helpful when you have a fully battened main that is difficult to manoeuvre. That’s been quite successful, which we're pleased about. We’re also currently working on a prototype for a safety winch, which is exciting.

It’s been good to balance the design work with more yachting. I've been sailing across the Atlantic twice since joining IODE and feel lucky that I get to be able to do that and other sailing activity because Alex is relaxed about me spending time on the water and gives me time to do that. It’s good to meet people listen to their problems and perhaps supply a solution for them.

What was it like serving on the DAME Design Awards Jury last year?

I was nervous before attending the Jury meeting in Amsterdam but also determined to make my perspective heard and vouch for the products that interested me because I believed they had design merit. The student jury member initiative is important for the whole of Metstrade because inclusivity is so important. Whether that means younger people, women or people of colour.

The industry does still seem to be dominated by white older men but it’s important to highlight there is so much opportunity for so many.

Did you notice any obvious areas of for improvement across the field of entries?

The environmental statements on the entries were often disappointing – there was a lot of debate in the jury room over that. In some cases, it was because product creators didn’t explain their sustainability efforts well enough or made what seemed to be inauthentic claims and in others because sustainability appears not to be a priority when setting development goals.

At university we had to explicitly show the UN sustainability goals that we were aligning our product to and how we were achieve that. There’s a whole lot of consideration that needs to go into product design, because you're responsible for what you design and what you produce.

I’d also like to see more evidence of an industry move towards circular business, with buy-back systems and recycling of components. To be authentically sustainable, customers need to know how the product is going to be disposed of or recycled, what can be reused, how can it be reused and the sources of materials used in construction.

In your real-world experience so far of working in a micro-sized manufacturing business how easy is it to achieve an authentic drive towards sustainability?

You are right to ask the question. In electronics it is challenging because circuit boards are formed from a mush of materials that make it particularly tricky. One thing that we can do though at our scale is to make a good quality product that isn't just going to be replaced when it fails. If something is of high quality and repairable, it won’t be thrown away and replaced. If our plugs stop working, then they just get repaired.

We can also make better decisions in our material choices, for example, by using aluminium instead of carbon and recycled aluminium instead of titanium.

There’s much more we can do – the starting point is to ensure that sustainability is the first thing we think of.

What might help the drive for more sustainable products?

Consumer pressure is one factor I would expect to see become more influential. I also feel the buying power of the yachting industry is a lot bigger than a lot of people realise and if harnessed that might help contain increased costs of producing more sustainable products. If a product costs 10% more because its environmental impact has been tangibly reduced, then we should be able to afford that extra price to have a better-quality product because we work in a luxury industry, particularly the superyacht end of the market.

I also think there’s a certain stigma around products made from recycled materials and we must overcome that.

Is there a specific facet of design that you would like to grow into?

I think the growing is happening right now. The project that I'm working on now is the first hardware product I have designed since I finished school. Alex is pushing to have it done in time for Metstrade this year and to have it on boats beforehand, so that is my immediate target.

My ambition remains to make hardware that people are impressed by. I don't want to create things that are not the best. It is such a privilege to be in a business of this kind so quickly after finishing school, with a mentor who has experience, influence and connections in the industry.

What advice would you give an 18-year-old in terms of how to get involved marine equipment design?

Go sailing. If you want to create marine equipment, you need to get out on the water regularly and experience as many different types of boats everywhere in the world that you can. Those perspectives will inform you how people interact with their machines. The more that you know about what you're designing for, the better.

It's hard sometimes when I see former students that I was with at university who are job seeking and ask them what is it that you want to do? Who do you want to design for? What do you like? If you don't have answers to those questions and understand the people or the industry you are working in, then you’re starting with one hand tied behind your back.

Donald Norman, writing in his book The Design of Everyday Things, says: “human error usually is a result of poor design: it should be called system error.” If you commence a career as a designer then take some ownership and design the product so that the person who picks up knows what it does and how it works. To do that you need to understand how they will be interacting with it.

Metstrade Young Professionals Club

Access to the Young Professionals Club is free to access for all Metstrade visitors and exhibitors aged under 40. Register for access to the Young Professionals Club on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/groups/12717817/ and look out for further announcements regarding the dedicated Young Professionals Club lounge and associated networking and content programme on Metstrade’s website and social media channels.

DAME Design Awards For further information on the DAME Design Awards, see www.damedesignawards.com