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Meet the Team: Tom Gillmore, Design Engineer

Continuing our Meet the Team series, we welcome Tom Gillmore for a chat to find out more about him and his role as Design Engineer at Kingsway Group.
Hello Tom, welcome to the Kingsway blog! Before we dive into your role, could you tell us a bit about your background?

Of course! I studied Product Design BSc at Bournemouth University in the UK with a year in industry and graduated in 2020 after battling through a final year during the height of covid. My professional journey to date has been centered around developing products for a consumer market, focusing heavily on innovation and creating solutions to issues through extensive development and testing. Although the previous industry I have worked in has not been mental healthcare related, the skills and knowledge gained there are transferable, through designing to standards and regulations, thorough product testing and manufacturing.

 

As one of our Design Engineers and a key part of our Product Team, you play an important role in innovation at Kingsway Group. Could you tell us some more about what your role entails?

As a Design Engineer I am predominantly working on ‘New Product Development’ which means I am very involved in the process of taking an idea from concept through to production and install. In short this includes sketching and concept generation, developing 3D CAD models, 3D printing and prototyping, thorough testing, sample builds, developing parts for manufacturing and assisting with the build and assembly process, as well as lots of other bits spread throughout this whole process. I am fortunate to have a role with lots of variation to it as I get involved in so many steps along the process.

 

What’s a recent project that you’ve worked on and what were the aims of it?

One of the recent projects I have worked on is the SENSORY Door System. The aims of SENSORY was to create a door system that worked in conjunction with the CAMHS project as a whole to provide a sense of ownership and control for the service users and to promote a safer and more homely feel to their bedroom. Not only this, but the aim was to maintain and uphold Kingsway’s renowned reputation for reliability and robustness. This project has been a very interesting one to work on as it not only provides the same level of patient safety and robustness that all of Kingsway’s products provide, but it also provides multiple new innovative design features to give the door system a warmer, less-industrial feel to a CAMHS bedroom.

 

Which members of the Kingsway Team do you work with most closely on a daily basis?

On a daily basis I work closely with other members of the Product Team, collaborating and discussing ongoing projects. Other than my fellow members of the Product Team, I work closely with a lot of other members throughout the company. One team that jumps to mind in particular are our Project Consultants. We work closely with them to progress both current and new projects, to develop solutions to improve the day-to-day lives of service users and clinical staff. Our Project Consultants have a huge combination of knowledge and experience, so for myself it is always good to get their opinions and views on certain projects to best inform the design decisions. Another team I work with, or pester, on a regular basis is our Purchasing department. There are always parts for testing, prototypes, tooling etc that need ordering.

 

Thank you for chatting with us today, Tom! To round off, what are your main interests and pastimes outside of work?

Product design is a passion of mine in life not just for work, I have a 3D printer at home and am always designing and printing items for at home, such as parts and accessories for my fish tanks and toys for my cat. When I’m not designing or making things I love attending automotive events, watching formula one or going out for a run. I have always been green-fingered and am a huge fan of houseplants, so am slowly turning my house into a jungle!

Thank you for taking the time to read about my role, and I can’t wait to meet more of you throughout my career here at Kingsway Group.

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