Spotlight on Dan O'Brien

Dan joined the business as senior cost engineer in November 2023, he’s had an incredibly busy and productive 9+ months.   

In our latest employee interview as part of the ‘spotlight series’ he tells us about his experience so far...

Why did you become an engineer?

It goes right back to being a child, watching ‘How it's Made’ on TV rather than watching cartoons, that kind of thing. I've always been really interested in in how things are made, the way that they work, and why these things exist.

As I got older and had to start thinking about a career, a degree apprenticeship really appealed to me. My school promoted the degree only route, but I knew there were other options available. My dad works at Jaguar Land Rover, so I knew these options existed through him. The fact that you earn a salary, have your fees covered at a great University and get on-the-job experience at a good company - made it an easy decision. That’s how I became an engineer.

Describe your role at Petalite

My job title is Senior Cost Engineer but my role at Petalite so far has been much broader than that. That’s why I wanted to join a scaling business; the opportunity to get involved in a variety of things and the career growth opportunities that it brings.

So far, I’ve been more focused on procurement and less on cost engineering, just because of the stage we're at as a business. My role is evolving with the level of concept maturity. From opinions on early concept designs, initial quotes for the prototypes, right through into cost engineering and series procurement.

Ultimately, my goal is to ensure affordability of the engineering solutions through design to cost, design for manufacture, tracking cost to target and achieving value for money in procurement.

What does a typical day for you look like?

It varies day-to-day. One day I could be visiting a supplier, then the next may be informing engineers on potential designs, materials and manufacturing processes. And then another, be purely procurement focused or having an input into timing and programme management. The variety makes it really enjoyable.

What are some of the things you’ve enjoyed working on since arriving?

Building relationships with manufacturing partners, visiting them and reviewing all the potential sourcing and procurement options.  Also contributing to an external due diligence review. From a personal perspective, working closely with Steve, our CEO and other senior management has been really valuable. 

Sitting within the engineering team, everything being so tight knit and sort of like a work community has been good.  It makes my role easier in many ways as I get visibility of things changing.  For example, concept charge post design discussions, being involved from the start speeds up the process as we can assess what’s feasible, whilst also bringing in a cost perspective. 

Overall, I feel like I can use my judgement and experience to do what is best to move the company forward.  I can influence so the business can be in a better cost position by design to cost, but then also how I can source it in the best way to achieve the best overall system cost and keep us on target. Looking at affordability and profitability right from the start.

What has been the biggest challenge since you started?

The growing team have inherited R&D projects such as Ultra and FFLIP which are coming to conclusion soon. The team are getting up to speed quickly on what’s been done so far and what needs to be achieved to bring projects to a close.

While the engineers will be under pressure, I know ultimately it will come down to purchasing and the procurement. The end date doesn’t move. It takes time to get the engineering right, but parts still need to turn up on time to avoid any delays to the project. It's about embracing the challenge and remaining committed to what we're trying to achieve even when timing can be difficult. But you've always got to remain committed and do the best you can.

What’s the most exciting thing about working at Petalite? 

Compared to my previous role within a big OEM such as Jaguar Land Rover, I would definitely describe Petalite as small but mighty. We are trying to achieve something great with only a modest team. We are growing rapidly, but in the grand scheme of things we are still only small. We are still finding our feet as a business, but it is an exciting time and a journey I am looking forward to being a part of.

The technology speaks for itself, and I really believe in the vision of what we are trying to achieve. I think we can make a real difference in the DC charging market and in turn have a positive impact on society.

The satisfaction that will come from getting our technology to market and then scaling it.  All the building blocks are there commercially. For this technology to be a massive success, it’s now just the execution of the delivery.

What it could become in the future and the fact we can change the global landscape of EV charging is really exciting.

What’s surprised you about Petalite?

The personnel is a lot more experienced than I would have expected for a pre-production / pre-revenue company. That's probably the one thing. From senior management all the way down to be honest with you, the level of talent that we've managed to attract so early on is really impressive.