“All problems can be solved through creative thinking.”

Growing up, Oli was always fascinated with the Armed Forces. Although he was unable to join the military, he realised that “the next best thing was designing the aircraft and getting as close as I could to them without flying.”

Oli first joined General Dynamics UK on a one-year placement, as part of his degree course at Brighton University. He then joined the Company full-time following his graduation in 2020. As a hardware engineer, his day-to-day role is all about transforming ideas into products – including conducting product analysis, designing solutions, and creating test equipment.

“Going into engineering, I first thought the job was going to be very technical and ‘right versus wrong,’ but the more I work with others, the more I’ve realised the value of creative thinking and looking at things from different angles,” he says. “Working at General Dynamics and dealing with customer challenges and needs, I love that in just a few weeks you can always see constant progression towards finding a solution.”

Outside of work, Oli is currently fulfilling a lifelong dream to master the art of British sign language. “I started learning about a year-and-a-half ago, so hopefully one day I will be interpreting at Coldplay shows,” he jokes.