A career in railway-related industrial design

[Sorcerer]

Industrial design for anyone who doesn't know or isn't familiar with the term itself is the professional practice of designing products, devices, objects and services used by millions of people around the world every day. The term itself covers a wide variety of industries but in this particular thread I want to go over railway industrial design because I myself have considered chasing the profession, specifically in railways and aviation similar to PriestmanGoode, but I can't seem to find enough helpful information to decide what the best course of action is (specifically whether any college or university degrees are necessary or whether you need to go into a certain line of work), so I opted to ask around here to see if anyone else had answers. But I also would like to make this into a megathread for anyone else whose interested in pursuing a career in railway related industrial design or who may be interested in future. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Newapplicant]

I will be the first to admit that I've not got any experience within this sector however I would almost certainly imagine that you would either require a college or more likely a university degree in something like mechanical engineering / industrial design especially if you're wanting to design something that will be used by millions of people every day within a safety-critical infrastructure.

I always find that if I want to know more about a role, I will email the relevant HR team of the company I think can help the most, I would guess in your case, it would be Network Rail or TOCs and FOCs. Alternatively, if you're a member of Linkedin, it might be worth reaching out to those in the sector you're interested in and asking for their advice on the best course of action of how to go down the education and career paths.

Sorry, I can't be of more help but best of luck with it all!

 

[Sorcerer]

It's okay, I appreciate what you can tell me anyway, cause it at least gives me something more to go on!

 

[Nunners]

It sounds like mechanical engineering is the type of thing you're looking for, and that normally requires a degree. There will be lots of degree apprenticeships out there to help with that as well. Of course, if you want to design foundations, tunnels or structures then you'll want Civil Engineering

 

[Sorcerer]

It sounds like mechanical engineering is the type of thing you're looking for, and that normally requires a degree. There will be lots of degree apprenticeships out there to help with that as well. Of course, if you want to design foundations, tunnels or structures then you'll want Civil Engineering

Thanks for this very useful information. My interest is in things such as design trains and aircraft. PriestmanGoode is the company I kind of look to for an idea of what line of work I'd be interested in doing.