Meet Iain, our Director of Innovations. Iain has a wealth of experience in the renewables sector, and we’re proud to have him onboard with us. Iain spearheads KUDO’s innovations efforts to ensure its products are designed to address current challenges faced by the industry.
How did you get into this industry?
When I finished my undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering, there were limited graduate roles in renewables.
I managed to find a PhD program in wind energy, which gave me both a broad understanding of the industry and some detailed expertise.
What does a typical day look like?
My role is a dynamic mix of researching new ideas; this includes working with my internal team and speaking to external stakeholders.
My role also involves management, which covers direct line management as well as strategic thinking, and occasionally getting involved in the details of working with developers on new features in our products.
What was your career path?
After earning an undergraduate engineering degree, I pursued a PhD focusing on operations and maintenance of offshore wind.
I then transitioned to working in a joint industry/academic research program involving a mix of utilities and service providers.
Following that, I joined Natural Power as an analyst and gradually took on increased research and development responsibilities within the department. Eventually, I led a team dedicated to developing new services and methodologies within Natural Power, before finally landing here with KUDO.
What’s an after-work hobby of yours?
I’m generally a fan of most sports. I try to keep fit jogging but will watch or play football, tennis, rugby, or cycling.
I also like to get out and help coach some of my kids' sports teams.
What’s a fun fact about you?
I once had the experience of winning a £5k prize on a short-lived engineering TV show called ‘Safebreakers’.
If anyone can find this online, then please share it with us. We've spent more time trying to source this than we should have, and had no success!
What do you enjoy most about working at KUDO?
The small team fosters a collaborative environment where we all work closely together. The setup keeps everyone constantly on their toes.
What’s the best career advice you have ever received?
It’s a small world and the renewable industry is particularly small. Reputations are hard to build up but easy to destroy, so always be diligent and always try to be courteous.
What career advice would you give someone wanting to be in your role?
Make sure that you develop some deep technical skills and domain knowledge. However, embrace working with people who have deeper expertise or greater skills than you. A quote I really agree with is that ‘Greatness is in the agency of others.’
What’s an accomplishment in or out of work you’re proud of?
Getting my wife to agree to marry me still trumps any academic, career, or physical accomplishments I’ve managed!
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
There are so many places I’d still love to visit; it’s impossible to pick one.
Hopefully, we will make KUDO such a global success that it will allow me to travel to some new places for work.
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