Rupert Lodge
BEng (Hons) MIEE

Lead Engineer

I have long had an enthusiastic interest in steam railways, which is why I went to  Leeds University to study mechanical engineering, but it was the intriguing advert for Max Fordham which aroused my curiosity in building design. It asked for engineers and scientists to solve intellectually challenging problems. I had not seen engineering presented like that before and it really appealed to me.

There are significant principles and standards to be adhered to in order to understand electrical design but our work goes beyond that, into solving real problems. The refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall has been a key project, it was the largest project either I, or Max Fordham, had ever worked on. The scale of the electrical design was so large that we were instructing experienced contractors on how to use equipment we had specified. But they appreciated the depth of knowledge and application of ideas behind the work we had done.

It is a very successful design which put us at the forefront of electrical engineering. I learned a lot from the RFH refurbishment and I'm pleased to say our expertise and knowledge has continued to grow since then.I tend to think that if you can see what I've designed, then I've failed. The electrical systems of a building are like a central nervous system, you know when it's working, but you can't see it. Ultimately we have to deliver what clients want; their interfaces, things like the electrical sockets and light switches but that belies the complexity of the task behind designing a system which really works.

Getting it just right, ensuring the design is robust enough to stand up to realistic use, is a challenge which I still enjoy. I did not abandon my enthusiasm for railways when I joined Max Fordham either. I am now Head of Steam Engineering for the Leighton Buzzard Railway, which operates steam-hauled passenger trains over 3 miles of Bedfordshire countryside, and houses one of the largest and most important collections of narrow-gauge stock in the country. It's another opportunity for me to flex my mechanical engineering muscles, indulges my lifelong love of railways and helps to keep an important part of engineering history alive.

Rupert's profile on The Institue of Engineering and Technology