Reece Statham-Quilty
BEng Mechanical Engineering, 2015
Platform Lead Vehicle Personalisation, Jaguar Land Rover
As a Platform Lead Engineer within Vehicle Personalisation at Jaguar Land Rover, my role is to bring together cross functional teams to ensure the successful delivery of future accessories that customers may want on their vehicle. Day to day, this comprises a variety of things. This can be from hosting engineering reviews for these accessories, to assisting Programme Managers in making informed decisions about what is to be developed, from troubleshooting engineering problems and finding solutions, to creating information packs to ensure all stakeholders are aligned.
What is the best thing about your current role?
Having an active part in the creation of the cars of the future, with some of these being very exclusive projects, where you see the tangible outputs on a day-to-day basis from the work that you conduct. This includes being able to get first hand experience of the vehicles!
How has your career developed since graduating from the University of Birmingham?
Upon leaving university, I went straight into the military as an engineering officer and served seven years. I had experiences that I could never have dreamt of having in any other career path and was able to test the skillset that I’d gained through training in some dynamic and challenging situations. Based on how the military works, the roles that I took on were in different sectors, giving me the opportunity to improve on a variety of the skills across all areas of engineering. A common theme across all of these jobs was me having to manage people of all ages, backgrounds and ways of thinking, teaching me about techniques I could employ to get the best out of individuals by focussing on the human element. This is one key skill that I have learnt in every role: to look after the people around you. After the military I spent some time working in the events industry during the summer, allowing me to get my first exposure to working life outside of the military, prior to my current role at Jaguar Land Rover.
Why did you originally apply to Birmingham?
When applying for university, there were a few that I was interested in. Admittedly, there was another university that I wanted to go to, or so I thought. That was until I visited the University of Birmingham and it just seemed like home. You know that feeling when something feels right? I got that immediately whilst I was there. The campus was spectacular with the iconic buildings and architecture, which has only improved since I left, the department compared to other the other universities I looked at was a great fit for me as a person, and the extracurricular activities on offer were aplenty.
What are your fondest memories of the University?
Spending time on the campus in general. The buildings and architecture are something to behold in my eyes, and to be able to enjoy each day with great people is something that I do miss when looking back. The second thing that I recall when thinking back to my university time is the satisfaction that I got from successfully completing any of the engineering projects that I had as part of the course. To see the thing that you’ve been working on come to fruition and actually work was such a good feeling. Finally, but by no means least, the time spent with a great set of friends. Whether it be a big event or something a little more relaxed, when being with your best friends, it is something that you don’t realise you’ve got until it’s gone. When you disperse around the country, it’s not as easy to just head over to hang out.
Did you get involved in any extracurricular activities as a student?
In the first year of university, I joined the cross country and athletics team before this became a love for obstacle course racing in my own time, away from the university, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Alongside this, I was a passionate gym goer, delving into various forms of bodybuilding and strength training to test my physical potential, prepare for my sports and give my mind a rest from the daily academics. Due to the military scheme that I was part of, I was involved in what would be an equivalent of URNU and UOTC, throughout the three years I was at university. This gave me a great amount of personal development that has stood the test of time even to this day. The best thing about my time as a student was the time and ability to explore plenty of potential interests and hobbies. It is definitely a time for you to discover who you are, what you like and what you want to take into life. It is unlikely that you are going have a better opportunity to do this. However, I do feel like I could have taken the opportunity more to engross myself in the various different activities on offer whilst at university. So, make sure you don’t make the same mistake I did and use your time wisely. You don’t get it back!
What advice would you give to current students?
There are plenty of opportunities within the School to engross yourself into the world of engineering and I would certainly advise everyone to make the most of those. However, alongside that, be sure to embrace plenty of extracurricular activities that the university offers. This is going to be one of the best opportunities for you to throw yourself into them. Not only will this give you a variety of other skills for you to take into life after university, but it will also allow your mind to take a break from the course.
“Don’t leave everything to the last minute! Never underestimate how long a task is going to take or else you’ll be up against it to get things completed.”