Director Insights - with Adam Eaton MEng CEng MIFireE

Introduction: 

Adam is a Chartered Engineer and Director and leader of our Birmingham office, with over a decade of experience in fire safety engineering. He holds a Master’s degree in Civil and Structural Engineering (MEng) from the University of Sheffield. His vast experience includes developing fire safety strategies for many complex buildings across a variety of sectors, both in the UK and internationally.

What inspired you to become an engineer?

I have always been fascinated by how things work, and as a boy helped my dad and grandad with putting up fences, building garages, fixing cars, or working in my grandad’s DIY store. As a young teenager I enjoyed dismantling and reassembling cars. From there, I wanted to become a structural engineer and develop structural designs for landmark buildings and football stadia. I stumbled onto a fire engineering placement at Hoare Lea in my penultimate year of university, and I have never looked back.

Tell us about your career to date:

I started life as a Graduate Engineer within Hoare Lea’s Manchester office, and had the opportunity to be supported and mentored by many experienced Chartered Engineers who were more than happy to give their advice and guidance. I then relocated to the Midlands to start the Hoare Lea Birmingham fire engineering team. I gained valuable experience in the early RIBA Stages of projects, working on landmark schemes such as the Athletes Village for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

I then moved onto Hydrock where I gained experience working in the later RIBA stages with Delivery Architects and Contractors, providing pragmatic advice to deliver schemes through to completion. During this time I also had exposure to external wall work and the FRAEW/EWS1 process. I worked my way up to National Lead Director of Fire Engineering (South) at Hydrock, where I was responsible for developing and leading teams across multiple regions, creating business development plans and setting national strategies for project delivery. 

I joined Trigon Fire to manage the team in Birmingham. With a focus on competency, and delivering a high quality of service, I am enjoying the opportunity to once again be more technically and delivery focused in an agile team of experienced fire engineers.

Describe your role at Trigon Fire Safety:

As a Director at Trigon, my main area of responsibility is developing the team and presence in Birmingham and the Midlands, whilst also supporting national initiatives.

What’s a typical working day?

A typical working day revolves around communication and conversations, whether this is with the team or clients and collaborators, communication is a key part of a consultants role. It involves a lot of emails, however, my preference is always to meet people face to face or speak over the phone to build lasting and trusted relationships.

The favourite part of my day is reviewing reports and drawings of others within the team, where I can offer insights and constructively challenge proposals, to ensure we always find the most appropriate solution, all whilst assisting in the development of the team. Whilst reviewing other’s work ensures quality and consistency, it also plays an important role in allowing me to continuously learn from my peer’s approach.

What are the key challenges in the role?

The role of a fire engineer is ever-evolving, and the industry and guidance are not always in agreement with how to solve problems with emerging technology or the drive for inclusive design. The biggest challenge is adopting consistent approaches in a constantly changing field, and explaining to clients and Approving Authorities why the solution that was adopted ‘last time’ is not necessarily appropriate the ‘next time’ a similar problem arises.

What do you find most enjoyable about your job?

I enjoy working with different people across the industry with different backgrounds and experiences – there is always an opportunity to learn something new and to consider a different viewpoint. But the most rewarding part of the job is mentoring and coaching someone, and witnessing them reach their potential with a little nudge in the right direction.

Describe any professional highlights or achievements:

I was very proud to have worked on multiple football stadia for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Watching the matches on TV, and explaining the innovative solutions that I developed to my family, was very rewarding.

Source: 

The above is an abridged version of an article written by the Institute of Fire Engineers (IFE).

You can read it in full here: IFE > Career Spotlight > Adam Eaton MEng CEng MIFireE