Re. Senior/Principal Metallurgist, Truro

In quick abstract:

My Mineral processing covering letter, providing background including the origin of my skills.

Personal address to senior / Director level at WAI

There is no way "Human Resources" can recruit high-level persons - they are inherently "people persons", which is almost mutually exclusive to diving deep into narrow technical conundrums whose solutions lead to sources of revenue.

Now at 60 years of age, I can see that around my 30th year I as overwhelmed by too many concurrent problems on too many different fronts, shattering self-image and thus self-confidence. But did instinctively do the right thing simply working and setting up a rhythm in life as a welder and steel-erector.

Three points I will follow with:

It is seeming the future will be more manufacturing, as part of a "Eurasian economic area". The ploys to avert this have only accelerated the changes - including firming a "BRICS" alliance now larger than the "G7", etc.

I was "awake" during that time, finding and recognising commercially significant discoveries; though I could not "swim against the prevailing current":

Hence - to the job(s) - manufacturing. As an endeavouring person I know that what you want you don't necessarily get first-off, so a discussion can be had. That said, your clientele are multi-national and I have what it takes to stride in as an equal in a global endeavour.

Contributions to Cornwall economy

I would like to highlight that I taught welding, the Trade skill, to welding apprentices of West Cornwall at Truro College in the week before Christmas 2023.
In particular to the first years I taught the fundamentals of welding fillet-welds - in which they had not been trained before and will be in the high-90's% of welds they will make in their careers. The students were grateful.

This is to give context to my obvious skills that I can present seminars to expert audiences and produce detailed articles conveying in an understandable way complex ideas.

I have previously worked in engineering companies and boatyards in Cornwall.

Addressing your job specification:

The overall requirements...

I started my career working a lot in the metallurgical laboratories of steelworks. This was quite complex in the Sheffield steel industry as these steelworks produced hundreds of grades of different alloyed steels, for different applications where different properties are paramount.
I gravitated to tests involving some degree of difficulty, finding procedures which gave consistent results. For example a very sensitive hardness test I "picked-up" when on the night-shift, when the ground and the building shook much less.

Doing well at technical college then doing a Degree, I went onto research on a project for the steel industry, where I had to lead into an area where there was negligible prior knowledge, and no existing useful experimental methods.
This took me to being awarded a Doctorate. The general skill a Doctorate should teach you is to be able to make a good guess of how the Universe is likely to work on this issue you are looking at at that moment. The evidence is that I very much obtained this ability; which is very useful in industrial endeavours.

I have accrued experience running into decades.

Looking to programmes of work which the role will entail, there is abundant illustration of ability in pushing-forward projects and programmes.
A spectacular example, seen on my CV for 2015, is working on the 3rd bridge over the Bosphorus in Turkey, spanning Europe<=>Asia. This US$2.7Billion project had stalled at the steel structures phase. I was brought-in to sort-out this matter and did so.

A lot of the ability to sort-out this was the ability to devise tests which it could be seen would work, causing silence on what had been strident insistences on the matter the test addressed.
This maps onto your "scoping", "feasibility" and "pilot" tests.

Most of my projects have been "pilot studies" for the simple reason that this plays to my most extraordinary abilities and strengths. As explained with an illustration in my web-based "covering letter"; this is "early stage" at the "from zero" high-returns stage of the diminishing-returns curve (much esteemed academic research is far towards the horizontal near-level).

The notable abilities are understandable when surveying my combined industrial background with study then research and industrial applications.

There are examples of being diligent and carefully non-biasing in running already-refined procedures.

On mathematics, what is true is that when I work with concepts and equations I can make significant contributions.
I found a useful derivation of the (Euler-Bernoulli) beam equations / calculations, giving a "short-cut" between deflection<=>stress , for which the beam's design information is unnecessary. As all but beam height cross-cancels. The beam height can always be had with a tape-measure.

Circuits...
I could certainly analyse mineral processing involving circuits (the ore circulates around a ring of process stages, being progressively separated into concentrate and gangue)

Specific requirements...

  • I have done all of laboratory, consultancy (note oil&gas industry 2013/2014) and production/industrial roles, for some decades.
  • Degrees are to Doctoral level in metallurgy and engineering. The Doctoral level original research experience adequately covers for being newer to mineral processing and extractive metallurgy
  • mineral processing technologies - fully read "Wills" and have met comminution, leaching, gravity and flotation
  • Working independently - I have been been the navigator of my research and investigative programmes. Equally, I am rated as very contributive to teams. That I can work on construction sites is an extreme illustration of my ability to work in a team.
  • Communication skills - yes very much so. I mentioned teaching welding at Truro College. Example of conveying ideas another topic - circumstances behind wrecking of the oil-tanker "Torrey Canyon" on the Seven Stones off Lands End on the 18March1967
  • Attention to detail - yes. It could be said "God will not permit you to see how the Universe works unless you work diligently to remove variability from your procedures and measurements" (you cannot have "leaks" in your implementation and get good results). Problem-solving - yes. Abundant portfolio of finding answers.
  • experience of technical project management - 3rd Bosphorus Bridge project Turkey 2015 already mentioned and would happily show you many other examples
  • ambition to drive and develop as a professional - I would not have emerged from the steelworks without drive and determination. I would not have had to be a welder and steel-erector after my Doctorate if I had been a mediocre person following a path of least resistance - this happened because of a high-stakes endeavour which threw challenges at me
  • willingness to travel internationally as required - yes. I have worked in the USA and Turkey, been on assignments to several European countries and would be happy to go on assignments as part of my job
  • full driving licence - yes, UK driving licence

  • Contact me : Contact form passes your contact details to me.

    Regards,
    Richard Smith CEng, PhD, MSc etc.,
    23Apr2024