A couple of years ago, the Swindon Local Network received a significant Education Award from the IET to organise a STEM event. With Ian Martin as the lead , Paul Robinson and the committee developed the Brunel Challenge Rail Competition for an inter/intra school challenge.


Working with the IMECHE Rail Division to use the BBC Microbit Controller to drive railway points and signals, Ian introduced the event to St. Johns in Marlborough, and a successful event was held at the STEAM museum in Swindon. 


This blog highlights Swindon Local Network committee members Ian and Paul and their achievements in the engineering industry. 

About Ian and Paul

Ian is a Chartered Engineer, now retired, who spent most of his career in the aerospace and defence engineering industry, working on products for land, sea and air. His initial training was in electronics, especially power electronics, but a systems engineering approach provided considerable exposure to other disciplines, such as computing and mechanical engineering.

In the first third of Ian’s career he was directly involved in engineering design and development. In the subsequent half of his working life he had a number of sales and marketing and project management roles, including being Director of Marketing at a leading ‘tier two’ supplier to the aircraft industry. He completed his employment as a business analyst, using a variety of modelling techniques to explore the likely outcomes of different engineering and management decisions. In all three phases he has found that his engineering training and experience have been of direct benefit to the performance of his work.

In retirement he is a committee member of the IET Swindon Local Network and Treasurer of Aldbourne Youth Council, a local youth charity. With the IET, he was one of the people most closely involved in conceiving and developing the Brunel Challenge in 2017/18.

Paul is a Chartered Engineer and has volunteered for the IET Swindon Committee for about 10 years and regularly helps supports the big annual Fairford Air Force Tattoo. He organised the Young Persons Present Around The World event in Swindon and then took on the role of committee Secretary.  He was part of the IET team that developed the Brunel challenge Schools STEM event based on the BBC Microbit in close co-operation with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.   

After leaving school at 16 served a vocational four-year Technician Apprenticeship course, and has been employed and paying taxes for nearly 50 years (!). After passing with a City and Guilds Certificate became a Technician, he worked in Power Electronics characterising semiconductors for a power interconnector to France. Joining the Telecommunications Company ‘Plessey’ and through continued Day release and night school he continued training to acquire a Degree and became a Hardware Design & Systems Engineer in Radio Communications for 2G, 3G and 4G technologies with frequent international travel and is now involved with Next Generation 5G Radio Spectrum issues.  

The Apollo Moon landings and building a crystal radio inspired a long interest in Amateur Radio and the earth and Natural Sciences and with Geology field Trips  the career has provided many opportunities to travel and see the world. Now settled and living locally and with two adult children the Engineering Career has proved satisfying, meeting new people and never boring as there is always a new innovation, situation or problem to solve.

Micro:bit Educational Foundation 

The Micro:bit Educational Foundation is a UK-based not for profit organisation with a mission to support educational programmes across the globe, and make the micro:bit the easiest and most effective learning tool for digital skills and creativity. It is a handheld, fully programmable computer given to every 7 year old child across the UK - and now being used across the world. It is 70 times smaller and 18 times faster than th eoriginal BBC Micro computers used in schools in the early 1980s.