Dr Karimi received a PhD in 1982 in Diesel Engine Design from Bath University and spent three years at Aston University as a post-doctorate Research Fellow investigating combustion in vortex supported fluidised beds. He spent five years as project Manager for Group Research with Perkins Technology before joining GEC Alsthon Ruston Diesels as Project Director of New Products with the immediate responsibility of introducing Ruston's biggest diesel engine.In March 1997, he joined MAN B&W Diesel LTD Ruston as Project Director-New Products and in July 1999 he was appointed Engineering Director. He has also been an external examiner for several PhD degrees. Dr Karimi's work has been published widely.

Q: Do you think the heroic age of engineering is over?

A: Well, it depends on what you call a hero. If you define it as a new invention which the fate of a particular industry, I think those days are over, not just in the UK but everywhere. It is not like Edison generating electricity. However, there are many specialists within the industry and academia working on many new ideas, which influence engineering, products and our everyday lives.

Maybe we should first refer to the role of engineering in society. The clock, which wakes you up in the morning, is a product of engineering. You have hot water due to combustion and electricity; you get into your car to go to work-once there, you use computers and other systems, which are all products of engineering. If you look at the improvements in each of these products you'll find many unsung heroes behind them.

For example, look at the automotive industry: today twenty Ford Fiestas produce as much exhaust emission as one from the seventies would, so there is a improvement although superficially it's just a car with four wheels. In terms of fuel, today a Ford Fiesta is twice as economical a sit was twenty years ago, and this is the same for any other industry. From time to time one emerging industry grows very fast like computer industry, but that also reaches the age of maturity, like mine, diesel, then the challenges are harder: you have to differentiate new products and many more innovations are required to give longer life at a reduced price.

Q: Compared with the IT industry, engineering does not look dynamic or appealing. Do you think you're losing out?

A: The uses of information technology are much wider than those of the diesel engine. You can have a computer at home, and work-basically everyday, anywhere.

Our approach is not like television advertising: ''Go out and buy diesel tomorrow.'' Quite a lot of marketing effort goes into our target sector. Major effort goes to publicising a product and the differentiation of products.

Q: Do you see yourself as more industrialist or academic?

A: I come from an academic background but I have spent more time in industry, I have been fortunate enough to have a foot in both camps. In my current role I am involved in product industrially based, less dependent on research.

Q: when do you prefer to be?

A: I don't mind, as long as what I do is valuable in today's industry. Today the challenges in industry are such are such that they drive me to the limits of my ability.

Q: Did you need a cultural switch to be able to change from academia to industry?

A: Yes, I always wanted to see the fruit of my efforts in research to be realised in an industrial product. The culture change is mainly on time-scale, cost and risk management's.

Q: is there anything common between academic and industrial life?

A: Having been out of academic life for sixteen years, it is difficult to know whether it's still the same. I find industrial life very dynamic, very challenging, and it is the matter of survival for a company to be successful with a product or not.

Q: What is your philosophy in industry?

A: Perhaps I can compare myself to a particular product. My philosophy is that you can produce, meet your objectives no matter how challenging they are except that they have to be time-bound and cost -bound so your technical choices becomes more constrained.

Q: Do you mean you are profit oriented?

A: In everything one does, one has to have added value, which is measured by your profit growth in industry. If you have healthy profit margins you will grow and a good product will give you larger volumes and a bigger market.

Q: how do you base your judgement according to this time scale?

A: Initially a marketing survey is carried out to find out if there is any requirement for a particular product. Once that's proven you have to check your business plan to se what investment is required to develop such a product. Then you set your marketing objective for a particular product: within this, the time of the introduction of the product is very important. If you miss that chance again, so it is the objective of business and marketing to set your time scale. Again, your business plan determines how business [plan determines how much you can invest and what your end product costs should be to be marketable.

Q: what is your approach to the unpredictable technical challenges?

A: you can go for incremental improvement, which in my view does not give you any market growth, or a beak-through idea. My approach is to increase the innovation, unlock people's talent. To do this there are many techniques, one of which is to define your objectives, review them, confirm them and consider every possible option to avoid chaos.

Q: what is concurrent engineering? Does it work?

A: It would mean including all disciplines up-front as opposed to sequential engineering, so in the design of a diesel engine, one would put a multi-discipline group together comprising analysts, designers, manufacturing engineers, purchasing manager, marketing executive etc., to make sure all activities are simultaneous-once the designer has come up a number of options has come up a number of options his idea are revised. Yes concurrent engineering works, and I use it in developing our products.

Q: Do you change your strategy during projects and do you feel easy when you change it?

A: I am very clear about my strategy: where and when I want to be. Sometimes I am prepared to change my strategy and create a measure of controlled chaos, but the end strategy and create a measure of controlled chaos, but the end strategy always remains same.

Q: Do you still recommend engineering to people?

A: very much, as I said before our daily life is assisted by engineering. These days there is not a limit for engineering development, engineers realise that the sky is not the limit; any limit is in their own mind. The talents of human beings are infinite. I have not doubt as we resolve many challenges, we will face more which need good engineering.

Q: Why do the media pay so much attention to doctors, vets etc,… with films and popular TV soaps and dramas not to engineers?

A: I think you have to ask this question from them and you have my sympathy and backing one hundred per cent.

(left) Dr Esmail Karimi (Right) An Airplane Engine

August 2001

One thing to know about the government's free money schemes is that getting the cash through involves a lot of form-filling, hoop-jumping and yes, red tape.

But perhaps that's just as well, says Ebby Shahidi, Design Director with Advanced Composites Group (ACG) in Derbyshire, who has filled in hundreds of such forms over the last 15 years.

''It's a complicated exercise, but when you write a proposal it shows the level of competence you have,'' says Shahidi. ''If you can't produce an acceptable proposal, you are unlikely to be able to do the work you want the money for. And the government wants value for money. It isn't an investment for the future of one individual company, but for a local industry t grow.''

ACG specialised in developing composite materials technology for industrial use, as well as for the aerospace and Formula One car markets. It first tapped Government funds ten years ago when Pera, at the time a government body helping manufacturers, asked ACG to improve the production speed of machinery produced by Yorkshire manufacturer Metal Box.

ACG agreed to design a faster machine, but with 55 employees, it lacked the £1m or so needed for investment. Pera helped them to get 50% government funding over the three years, and the result, a machine that doubled the speed of production while reducing the use of materials - was a success. ''It was one of the most profitable ventures we ever got into,'' says Shahidi, ''but it wouldn't have happened without government assistance. We couldn't have afforded it.''

The venture set ACG on the path to growth: the firm now employs nearly 250 people, and has a turnover of £28m. Since then ACG has frequently been back for government funding. Through the Support for Product Under Research Scheme (SPUR). ACG got £150,000 towards total costs of £450,000 in developing a material to use in Formula One cars. It took six months to get the funding, and three years to do the research. Nonetheless, the work gave the company a niche in the aerospace market, and the spin-offs from that and other developments have added between £800,000 and £1m to annual turnover.

Inevitable, these schemes carry a number of caveats. The link Scheme, which ACG also used, provides 50% funding to collaborative partnerships for pre-competitive research. Any proposal under link has to involve one industrial and one academic partner (although the academic partner is guaranteed 100% of costs).

To qualify, a project must be innovative, technical, and absolutely dependent on government cash to go ahead, it also has to offer social or economic benefits and complement rather than duplicate other UK or EU research. ACG also had to prove it could deliver such a project and could turn it into a commercial venture.

After years of using government research funds, Shahidi has changed his mind about them. ''Initially, I was very sceptical'' says Shahidi, ''I thought it was cumbersome and expensive. But as I have got used to them, I realise the value outstrips the burden. It's a profitable exercise, not just financially, but in all areas. People get used to a wider field, they access various industries and there is a lot of cross-learning, with different disciplines working together and transferring technology.''

The time invested in getting the money is simply the price you have to pay when it isn't available elsewhere. ''By definition, if I have a sure bet on something, I go to the bank for the money or use internal funding,'' says Shahidi. ''But for the more risky projects- where the potential gain for UK PLC or Europe PLC id nonetheless large government funding is there.''

Wales is now one of the fastest growing regions in Europe, and has one of the most impressive FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) track records in the world. It has managed to secure 17% of UK inward FDI with only 5% of the UK population. In the last 16 years over 1,500 companies have invested more than £12.5 billion creating and safe-guarding 187,000 jobs in key business sectors, including automotive and IT. However, the investment potential in Wales is only fully appreciated after viewing the success rates; of the total amount invested, £4.9 billion was reinvested during the same time by established companies, helping them to expand and strengthen their businesses. The Wales Development Agency is the lead co-ordinator of Team Wales, and it supports companies before and after their investment.

Mr Reza Mahmoud Zadeh is the Technology Programmes Manager of the South East Wales Division of the Welsh Development Agency, and he believes that Wales has a lot to offer, from strong infrastructure to skilled labour to good communication networks. The main factors leading to the success Wales has enjoyed have been their exceptional resources, focus on innovation, integrated communication networks, and competitive set-up costs.

For these reasons and more, Wales has now become an important region in its own right within the European Union. Furthermore, not only is the present situation favourable, but the future looks set to bring further investment and success. 92% of Chief Executive Officers surveyed in Wales consider that the workforce exceeds or meets their requirements in terms of commitment, productivity, and willingness to learn. All signs of an upward moving economy.

Wales is now globally acknowledged in key manufacturing sectors, including electronics, IT and automotive components. With the technological age not only upon us, but settled in and looking extremely healthy, these are all sectors in which the potential growth is unimaginable, particularly IT.

Furthermore, companies and their employees are actively encouraged to seek competitive advantage through processes of continuous improvement. Training and higher education institutions provide the framework within which investors can plan for their future, and with property prices among the most competitive in Europe, there seems to be very few obstacles in the way.

Among the companies that have now invested in Wales are Flexicare Medical Ltd., owned by Dr Ghassem Poormand, and Rocialle, owned by Mr Jahangir Farboud respectively.

Flexicare Medical Ltd., known as the market the leader in Oxygen Therapy Products, recognised in 1995 that demand for its products was increasing at such a fast rate that its Bridgewater site could not meet future demands. They then decided to relocate to Wales, and according to Managing Director, Dr Poormand, it was the best step that the company could have taken: "From day one we have received a level of support that has matched and exceeded our requirements with financial assistance making a significant difference to strengthening the business." Flexicare now services two key market divisions in over 32 countries and undertakes contract manufacturing for customers' own labels.

Rocialle Medical is a major medical market player with a £15 million pound turnover last year and over 400 employees. In 1996 the company expanded from its original base near Cambridge to a £12 million purpose built factory in Wales. Like Dr Poormand, Mr Farboud believes that he took the right step for his business in moving to Wales: "Our ability to develop as a company and enhance the product base has been significantly helped by the financial assistance and support from the Welsh Office and the WDA."

So the future looks bright for Wales, but the exact extent to which they can grow will remain to be seen


Map Denoting Quick Access Routes From Wales to Europe