For further information about the IMechE Design Challenge, please visit the Challenge website.
Matt Lister grew up in Ulverston, South Cumbria and completed an Admiralty Interview Board in 1998 at the tender age of 15. He studied Mechanical Engineering at Southampton University as a Naval Bursar, before joining BRNC as a Direct Graduate Entrant in 2004. Although Young Officer time was spent with ALBION and ILLUSTRIOUS, he streamed early as a Submariner and has remained within the SSN force throughout his career, serving as Assistant Engineer Officer in SWIFTSURE Class and then as Head of Department with ASTUTE Class.
Away from Sea Appointments, Matt has worked within the DREADNOUGHT Next Generation Nuclear Propulsion Programme and within the Submarine Flotilla as Staff Marine Engineer Officer to COMSUBFLOT. More recently he has served in the Submarine Delivery Agency as Military Assistant to Director Submarine Acquisition, before moving across to lead the Safety Team within the Nuclear Propulsion Directorate. A grateful beneficiary of military education, he attended sponsored degrees with UCL (Marine Engineering) and KCL (Defence Studies) and continues to support academia as Head Judge for the IMechE University Design Challenge.
A Royal Navy D&I Advocate and Parent Governor with Sir John Barrow Primary School, Matt still lives in Ulverston with wife Kim and children Isabelle, William and Jack – who are all immensely proud their dad is “one of the good pirates”.
Please tell us a bit about yourself, your academic and career background?
Matt Lister: I’m a Royal Navy Engineer through and through! Officer selection at the tender age of 15, followed by college and then a Mechanical Engineering degree at the University of Southampton – both of which benefitted from a generous Navy sponsorship scheme. After half a year of square bashing, PT and basic seamanship, I attended Marine Engineering training at HMS SULTAN which provides Young Officers with a basic understanding of systems operation and maintenance. Around this time I volunteered for Submarines and undertook Nuclear training, so that I could join my first submarine as Assistant Marine Engineer Officer. A fantastic three-year appointment followed, which provided an early education in maritime operations, engine room diplomacy and how to order a beer in multiple languages! With a Commanding Officer recommendation in my pocket (no doubt desperate to be shot of me), I left to read for an in-service Masters in Marine Engineering from UCL in 2010, before working with Defence Equipment & Support on the design for future submarine propulsion systems. I returned to sea in 2013 as a Marine Engineer Officer which was a hugely rewarding appointment, leading a large Engineering Department with responsibility for all Propulsion (including Nuclear) and Platform systems. Time within the Flotilla followed, as the head of Marine Engineering for all submarines based at HMNB CLYDE, before being extracted to attend the Advanced Command & Staff Course through which I read for a Masters Degree in Defence Studies at KCL. In recent years I have worked predominantly within the Submarine Delivery Agency, initially as Military Assistant to the Director for Submarine Acquisition, but more latterly as the Head of Nuclear Safety within the Nuclear Propulsion Team.
What are you looking to bring to your role as Design Challenge Head Judge?
Matt Lister: Having worked at various levels within MoD Design Authority roles, I look forward to bringing a critical eye to design solutions and the underpinning justification offered by the teams. Working within both customer and regulatory requirement is never an easy challenge; it requires creative thinking and a flair for stakeholder management - I’m hoping to encourage both during my time in role. A fresh perspective is always fertile ground for old dogs to be taught new tricks, so I’m coming into role with an open mind and an enthusiasm to learn from some fresh thinking and new perspectives.
What motivated you to apply for the Design Challenge Steering Head Judge role?
Matt Lister: The UK has a critical shortage of people with STEM qualifications and experience, which is really hurting our ability to deliver on major engineering programmes – and defence is no exception. We’ve traditionally tried to deal with this problem by being careful with the resources that we have and forming alliances across commercial boundaries in order to pool teams and make best use in the short term. Making things better in the long term requires everyone in a UK STEM role to take a stronger involvement in encouraging the future generation of engineers and scientists. The IMechE Design Challenge is a fantastic way to do just that, as it encourages STEM University students to start linking the academic syllabus with the challenges likely to be faced in a 1st professional engineering role. It also gives industry and the Public Sector a chance to connect with that cohort and encourage them to think about life post University and the opportunities opening up across the UK.
What advice/top tips would you like to give specifically to the competing teams?
Matt Lister: Innovate! This is a competition, so you’ve got to be bold and willing to commit to something really creative that will stand out and give you an advantage over the other teams. Better to reach upwards for a high stakes concept, even if you think it’s high risk, than to settle for a safe-bet and never know victory from defeat!
Adherence to regulation is an important engineering discipline (and I need it here to create a fair playing field for all teams), so don't rage against the rules: show me how you can work intelligently within them!
Think about other disciplines besides Engineering. Landing a great pitch requires effective communication (written and verbal), whilst interacting with customers and regulators (in this case, judges) requires good stakeholder management. Never let a fantastic engineering idea fizzle out for lack of the ability to convince others of your genius!
Above all else, enjoy! One of life’s greatest pleasures is knowing you’re part of a high-performance team, taking on something difficult, and sharpening your own skills in the process.
What would you say to young engineers who are thinking of entering the Challenge?
Matt Lister: The single greatest piece of life advice I ever received was ‘never turn down an invitation’. Engineering is a hugely rewarding sector to work in, not just because the renumeration is good (and it is), but more broadly because you get to spend a professional career tackling the really ‘big challenges’ – knowing your ideas made a difference, or that the team you trained and mentored delivered the impossible against long odds. There is a future version of yourself that wants you to be part of that, knows that you have the potential to be a brilliant engineer and is willing you to accept the IMechE’s invitation to prove it.