After leaving school in 1985, Carl went on to undertake a BTECH where he discovered the wonderful world of sheet metal! After four years at Farnell, and working temporary jobs – including pizza delivery -, Carl was hired by KE as a sheet-metal worker in 1995, after seeing an advert at his local job centre.
Carl’s skill set has grown with the times. An Autodesk Certified Professional in Design for Manufacturing and self-taught 3D CAD specialist, Carl has the ability to look at a paper sketch and transform it into a 3D model, first in his head, then onto his computer screen, a natural skill which is a huge asset to our company. He enjoys seeing his creations become real objects, and has particularly enjoyed being part of the KE team designing and manufacturing state-of-the-art circular bars. He particularly enjoys how the team take on board everyone’s ideas, as well as the camaraderie and good communications that are so important to us at KE.
While he’s certainly got a passion for design, there’s nothing that gets Carl’s blood pumping more than flying! After a discovery flight in a small plane a couple of years ago, he was immediately hooked. He loves the thrill of flying in a small plane – “You feel every movement”, he enthuses. Carl is working towards a private pilot’s licence, so twice a month he takes himself off to Leeds East Airport, formerly the RAF Church Fenton base, where’s he’s training to fly and to undertake the other duties inherent to being a pilot, including all the mechanical and technical checks needed before any flight.
Carl’s other hobbies include playing video games – he likes the escapism – and reading. He’s quite the fan of Dr Becky Smethurst, the astrophysicist, YouTuber and author of Space: 10 Things You Should Know and A Brief History of Black Holes. He also has an impressive collection of fountain pens. He’d like to get back into calligraphy at some point, but as a designer he doesn’t have much need for cursive writing and he’s a bit out of practice. So that’s a plan for a future date. He’s got plenty of other things to fill his curious mind for now!