6 Apr 2018
Lachlan Matchett oversees aerospace company Rocket Lab’s propulsion activities, ensuring they align with the intended direction and schedule. His role covers R&D, design, production, testing and operations. He was Engineering New Zealand’s 2017 Young Engineer of the Year. Rocket Lab is headquartered in Los Angeles, with operations and a launch site in New Zealand.
Lachlan Matchett
Every engineer’s “typical day” differs. So, each edition, EG goes behind the scenes to find out exactly how an engineer with an interesting or unusual role spends their time.
06:00 Get up, have breakfast and get ready for work.
07:30 Arrive at work and start by clearing my inbox. It’s important to get any questions answered quickly so everyone else can work without delays – especially for staff in the US because they’re on average four hours ahead in time.
08:30 Get around the team individually to follow up on their daily and weekly goals, noting actions I need to complete to help them – anything from organising more resources to helping with a design decision or a non-conformance issue in production.
11:00 Manufacturing and operations meetings where we discuss progress towards goals, schedule, issues and improvements occurring at the current time. Manufacturing covers everything related to the build of the engines. In operations meetings we plan tests for qualification of new designs or changes, we also plan acceptance testing of flight hardware.
13:00 Usually try to take a quick break for lunch – it varies a lot depending on what I’m working on. Normally have lunch at my desk or take a five-minute stroll to get lunch at one of the local spots.
13:30 Every day I spend time reviewing and approving new drawings and the procurement of parts for the propulsion systems. This can range from test facility pipes through to the design of a thrust chamber or a manufacturing document.
14:30 Design review – these happen regularly when we are making improvements. Everyone involved has the opportunity to contribute, from a new intern through to our CEO Peter Beck. I will align attendees if necessary to achieve the goals of these meetings. It can be anything from a few people around a computer for a minute, to a full meeting with a presentation. In addition, I have at least three hours of meetings, management work or job interviews to attend throughout the day.
17:00 Forward planning and project planning for the upcoming weeks and months. Plan meetings and make notes on what needs to be followed up the next day.
19:00 Start thinking about leaving work, which is hard because there are so many interesting problems to solve and solutions to come up with and I struggle to get them all done in the day. Try to close off all of the action items that have come up earlier so I have a fresh start the next day.
20:00 Usually leave work around this time – I’m not the last to leave as we have nightshift staff. I like to cook at least one day a week when I can get away from work an hour earlier than normal. Rocket Lab provides meals for teams staying late at work, so that’s helpful during particularly busy times. After work I catch up with my fiancée, Melissa, and we discuss our days, renovations ideas, and plans for our Sundays off. Each night I try to get an update on the news and I like to watch an episode of something on TV before heading to bed sometime after 10pm.
Watch Lachlan talking about winning 2017 Young Engineer of the Year at engineeringnz.org/Lachlan
Register for the Young+Innovators Awards, Sponsored by MAS and GHD, here.
