Rory McAllister

‘I studied mechanical engineering at Imperial College, and I first learned about tribology from the undergraduate module there. In my final year, for my masters’ project, I chose a research project on the topic of polyethylene wear in hip replacements, with Professor Philippa Cann. At the end of the year, Professor Cann’s upcoming PhD project on bearing greases really appealed and so I signed on for another few years of tribology. After finishing my PhD, I worked for a year and a half at a company in Cambridge that designed actuators for smartphone cameras, using shape-memory alloy wire. That was a really cool job and a great opportunity, but I eventually was contacted about a job opening at PCS. Having worked in the Imperial lab, I got really familiar with PCS equipment, and in fact my PhD involved designing a novel test rig, so this was practically the perfect role for me.

PCS has a really relaxed atmosphere, that reminds me of a research lab. It’s really nice that the people I work with are friendly and social. I think people are generally keen to get to know each other and not just see each other as co-workers. We often do drinks after work, but also events with the whole company.

From a professional perspective, the company has the benefit of being quite small. Communication tends to be walking over to someone’s desk rather than a meeting or Teams message.

Working in R&D encompasses the full range of engineering disciplines, from electronics to firmware, mechanical design, software and of course the tribological aspect of a design. I really love working on the full thing, learning about all these areas, and understanding the entire system. We are quite adaptable for that reason, and we all end up learning from each other lots of the time. The team manager, Tom, and the two founders, John and Clive, are fountains of knowledge and generous with their time. I also think everyone is very open to the idea of improving the way we do things, be it a project management style, or a change to the way we develop software, generally trying to make things the best they can be.

John and Clive built the company and have driven it to success over decades, and you might think that would mean they are serious, business-obsessed, people, but I was pleased to find that not only is that not true, but they joke around more than me which creates a great atmosphere.

I also really appreciate that we are trusted to make decisions in design and development, with John and Clive providing guidance. As they step back from managing the company, our CEO Steve has been doing a great job from my perspective. I think there’s a lot of forward-thinking and overall optimism about the road ahead.’