Braxton Marczak has received the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) Award in recognition of outstanding performance by a student in relation to Lifting Engineering in the MEng/BEng Mechanical Engineering Programmes at Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen.
Braxton was “absolutely delighted and honoured to have been selected for the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association Award,” which he received during the prize giving in July, attended by Professor James Njuguna, Associate Dean for Research at RGU and Dr Ghazi Droubi, Course Lead for MEng/BEng Mechanical Programmes.
Presenting the award, Robert (Rory) Rorison, LEEA Member Engagement Manager Scotland, Northern England & Ireland, said: “On behalf of LEEA I would like to congratulate Braxton for his Honours Engineering project, which explored the potential of parametric design to enhance efficiency, flexibility and innovation in the design of subsea solutions. He designed a friction clamp that was capable of recovering up to 30 t of riser at a maximum length of 500 m. The LEEA Award is very well deserved.”
Braxton’s interest in engineering was sparked through his hobby, stripping down motorbikes with his stepdad and turning old classics into racers. With mechanical engineering his desired career route on finishing secondary school, he joined Baker Hughes as an apprentice Electro-Mechanical Technician, working within drilling services division, maintaining and repairing drilling tools.
After this four year apprenticeship he spent six years as a workshop technician gaining exposure to additional roles and responsibilities in health, safety and environment. This involved planning and coordinating teams to meet customer demands for upcoming drilling campaigns.
Reaching Senior Technician level, Braxton concurrently completed four years in Aberdeen College to obtain his HNC, HND and then a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Robert Gordon University.
He was then promoted to a Mechanical Engineer position, in which he was mainly responsible for organising machine shop repairs and material degradation reports post drilling campaigns as well as assessing the damage and severity of the repair. In addition, he was the focal point between the third party company completing all the non-destructive testing and inspection, providing guidance on daily activities and helping manage workflow priority.
During this time, Braxton took a prominent career step by successfully becoming a Graduate Mechanical Design Engineer for subsea construction company Subsea7. He is currently working in the Customised Solutions department, predominately in decommissioning and subsea interventions, learning how to perform design mechanical engineering from senior engineers.
“From the early stages when I was completing my apprenticeship, I recognised that education would be a huge component of my development, and I have continued my part-time education without a break since 2013,” said Braxton.
Last year’s winner from Robert Gordon University was Archie Newbold.
