Tom Laird is completing his 3rd year in Naval Architecture at the Australian Maritime College and joined Wrights late last year for an internship. Tom provides some background and insight into his reason for choosing this path and his time at Wrights.
Why did you select to study for a career as a Naval Architect?
I have always known that I would undertake an Engineering type degree at University so I thought about what options were available and really liked the custom nature of boat design and building so chose Naval Architecture. I also like to challenge myself so with no real background in boating I felt this was the perfect opportunity.
Do you have a boating background?
Not really apart from doing a bit of sailing and going out on the occasional tinnie. That’s really why I chose the degree I did, because it’s just so different for me.
Where do you see your career taking you?
I really like to design, coming up with a solution to a problem and then seeing a project come together. I like to do things that are unique and have really enjoyed learning about a semi-submersible lift ship at Uni, so I think it will be a commercial direction for me. I also got to see the patrol boats coming together in my time at Wrights, it’s not every day you see a boat with a tender lift so that has been really great to see and experience.
What has it been like working studying and working on the job at Wrights?
It has been fantastic seeing how an actual project is managed and run versus just working scale models. Paul was great and taught me a lot about actual project management. The real life knowledge gained and the practical experience was terrific, so good to work with a company who designs and builds the projects.
We wish Tom all the best with his studies and future career
