Life beyond Radford
Simon Pennington
- Bachelor Degree, University of Canberra, Engineering
- Masters, UNSW Australia, Engineering Management
- Senior Project Manager, Australian Industry, 2021
What does life look for you now?
Busy, with a Wife and two kids.
Tell us what you are passionate about?
I’m passionate about family and developing skills, teams, environments, technology and capability for Australia’s betterment.
When you were young, what were you hoping to be when you grew up?
An engineer involved in defence aerospace.I was very keen on a career in the RAAF. I didn’t join the RAAF after Radford but this afforded opportunities to have at least as diverse and fulfilling career in government and industry capability operations and development.
What is your favourite Radford moment?
“This is not an occasion for hilarity” all school assembly circa 1997.
Do you have a particular role model or inspirational figure from Radford or now?
There were lots of great teachers and role models at Radford. I took a little from each of them.
How easy was it to decide what to do in life?
I was fortunate to develop a broad direction early, this encouraged me to focus on the knowledge and skills needed then took advantage of opportunities as they arose.
Did your further study or career go exactly as you'd planned?
Of course not.
There are too many variables, known and unknown unknowns to enable precise planning. However, specific goals are useful and broad objectives are key to achieving desirable outcomes.
What do you know now, that you wish you'd known when you were at Radford?
Do something you enjoy for work.
Keep what you love for a hobby.
Keep one eye to the future of your chosen field. Position yourself (and your team) to be ahead of the pack when the relevant performance is in demand.
What advice do you have for current students?
Learn what you enjoy and that which will likely lead to a robust field and interesting career.
Anything else that you would like to share?
Many of my best experiences have been in domains which I didn’t know existed and for which I could not possibly have planned for, when I was at Radford.