A "Drilling" Career Choice: Ed Smith, Engineering Apprentice

If you asked an audience of one hundred people what a career in Propulsion Engineering entails, you would probably get a significant number of blank looks in response. If you asked 17 year old Ed Smith the same question you would be impressed by his knowledge of the subject. That is because Ed fought off stiff competition in a series of assessments to successfully land the role as an engineering apprentice for Moog Inc.

Moog Inc. specialises in the development and manufacture of in-space propulsion systems as part of its larger product portfolio as an integrator of precision control components and systems. In simple terms Moog’s high-performance systems control military and commercial aircraft, satellites and space vehicles, launch vehicles, missiles, automated industrial machinery marine applications, and medical equipment. But that’s not all they do, they helped develop and install the retractable roof system for Wimbledon’s Centre Court as well as providing sub miniature micro valves for Formula 1 cars. The James Bond film "Casino Royale" presented Moog with a unique motion control challenge. One of the biggest scenes in the movie, the sinking of a Venetian building, involved Moog and its partner EMP Designs Ltd ensuring the smooth and safe operation of a huge rig that had to sink one of three motion bases, the largest weighing 80,000 kg (176,370 lbs), into the large water tanks at Pinewood Studios just outside London.

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