CAREERS AT ASV

I work in the production workshop as a Welder Fabricator. I joined ASV as an apprentice and having worked here for a year and a half I have now completed my Advanced Apprenticeship in Engineering and I am fully qualified in TIG and MIG welding. The training I have received at ASV has enabled me to progress from a trainee welder to successfully passing weld codes with procedure. I have been responsible for welding the hulls of over 10 ASVs. My job is very broad, not only do we weld hulls, we manufacture custom payload frames, jigs and masts. The job can be challenging because there’s always something new, something to be improved or a new problem that needs solving.

ASV provides a challenging and exciting place to work and you never really know what you might end up doing each day. You could be experimenting with advanced sensors on a high speed boat one day and tweaking autopilot algorithms on a long-endurance boat the next. You can be working across many different areas from sensor and hardware interfaces to advanced intelligent algorithms with the freedom to move between problems in a dynamic and fast-changing environment. My experience at ASV so far has been fantastic. I have realised that ASV is an organisation that offers a diverse range of opportunities for its employees, and the social life’s not bad either!

As an Ocean Systems Engineer working at ASV, I have had many unique opportunities and experiences to learn and refine my skills. Working closely with a multidiscipline team of experts, I apply my background and abilities to provide design teams and management with necessary knowledge to develop and improve our systems, procedures, and operations. My mixture of experiences at ASV includes hands-on engineering from initial concept to detailed design, and in house fabrication in order to get the project ready for work in offshore applications. In addition, working in the field I get the opportunity to operate the systems first hand, doing onsite testing, troubleshooting, tuning, and any mechanical or electrical modifications as needed. In all, I am genuinely passionate about learning and applying what I know to solve any problem put in front of me at ASV.

With ASV I have been given the opportunity to travel the world while solving interesting and diverse technical problems. This isn't just a desk job – from design to development to deployment at sea, you can be involved in every aspect of the software engineering process. At ASV, we solve problems in an open and collaborative way. Our team's camaraderie combined with a shared drive to build interesting and fantastic things make ASV a great place to work.

I have been working for ASV for almost 2 years now; I started right out of University with very little hands on or practical experience however I can now say that there are vessels out there that are using the electrical infrastructure that I designed. I spent my first 2 months on and off the water trialling a C-Enduro, learning its systems. The next 6 months were spent improving and refining its design before physically getting involved and helping to build the next. I have learnt how to produce detailed electrical wiring schematics that have gone on to be used by our team of wiremen to build vessels. I have designed multilayer PCBs and payloads as well as putting together highly detailed bills of materials for the acquisitions team. If you enjoy a challenge, like design and want to get your hands dirty then this is the career for you.

I joined ASV 10 months ago after working for several years in the UAV industry, and in just 10 months I’ve learned and lived so many things! ASV really is a great place to work, as in my opinion it is just the right size: big enough to successfully deliver complex and ambitious projects but small enough to stay agile and reactive. Thus as an engineer, you can learn a lot and develop your expertise but at the same time you also really feel you’re making a difference, as you are given large responsibility on projects. No two days are the same at ASV: somedays I work on the general systems approach or solve fine technical issues, some days I perform on sea trials. And for me that’s really interesting, as it means you can have a hands-on deep understanding of the system while retaining the global picture of the project. Finally there is a wonderful work atmosphere here, as everyone is very committed to their work and driven by a shared passion for autonomous systems. The autonomous systems that ASV designs, builds and operates are radically transforming the marine industry: it’s time to join to be part of this great challenge!

Since starting at ASV as a Mechanical Design Engineer and progressing to Senior Mechanical Engineer I have been exposed to a multitude of projects, environments and even countries. The work is varied and exciting with the opportunity to follow the design process the entire way though from concept through to detailed design and onto production and commissioning. One of the highlights is getting to go out onto the water and see your work in action whether it be a custom complex moving payload system with state of the art sensors, components on a conventional vessel to make it unmanned or an entire new class of unmanned vessel. The opportunity to travel with the job has allowed me to visit and experience places and people from Orkney in Scotland to Louisiana in the USA.