What job/study are you doing right now and tell us a little about it?
Senior Asset Engineer for Network Rail, currently cover all track compliance for Lancs & Cumbria.
Did you do any further/higher education?
Time served sheet metal worker, did my apprenticeship for UD engineering (Capper Neil), studied at St.Helens college. Started an MSC at Bradford University as a Ford engineer but left the company before finishing it.
How did you decide on your career path and what is/was most interesting about your work?
Started to understand the need for education once I left school...... Sad but true. I've always been good with my hands so opted for a career using them.
Can you share a couple of fond memories of your time at St Cuthbert's?
Far too many to list, I made many friends at school and still see/ talk to most of them.
Did you have a favourite/influential teacher? What made them so important to you?
Pat and Mike Oldfield, I classed them more as friends than teachers. Mike got me into Jethro Tull.
What advice would you give our current students?
Work hard and study hard, I was very fortunate to be good with my hands, that lead to me getting a great job, that gave me the skills to move in to automotive, I worked my way through the ranks in Ford/ Jaguar/ Landrover. I decame a 6 sigma Black Belt (process engineer) and took those skills to the railway after 22 years.
Name: Phil Lavin