WELCOME TO THE NEW TERM WITH EVOLVE!
In this newsletter:
- Meet the Directors
- Learning to Evolve…
- Join the team
- Keep in touch
MEET THE DIRECTORS
A new school year always brings change, and it’s no different at Evolve. We wish a fond farewell to Karen Fugle who leaves us – and the CAD/BIM industry altogether – after 5+ years at the helm. So we thought it was time to introduce you to our heads of department. How well do you really know the driving forces behind Evolve? You’ll find out more than you bargained for with our 10 quick-fire questions below:
Name: Daniel Heselwood
Nickname(s): As with everyone, I’m sure, I was always referred to by my last name at school. Things have got better since leaving. These days some friends like to refer to me as Spaniel. I’m quite sure the only motivation behind that is because it rhymes with Daniel (although I’m optimistic it’s because I’m loveable), I’m also known by every one of my friends children as “DanDan”.
Position: I’m Director in charge of IT, Human Resources and Company Secretary. – I’m quite sure I got allocated company secretary because Nigel likes to think of me waiting on him hand and foot for little money!
And the 10 quick-fire questions:
1. Where were you born? In a hospital, on a hospital bed… my parents aren’t hippies you know!
2. Do you have any siblings? I have a brother… I’m not entirely sure we are related mind. Put the pair of us in the same room and you wouldn’t be able to pick us out. I’m the dashingly handsome and smart sibling (fortunately he isn’t here to defend himself).
3. What are your qualifications? This is beginning to look like my CV! I have:
11 GCSES (For the life of me I can’t remember what anymore)
City & Guilds – CAD, multimedia, graphics and the internet
HNC – civil engineering
Certificate in delivering learning
1000m swimming badge
Level 4 diving badge (I don’t actually remember what this was called, it was purple)
I have a certificate for being the biggest liability of the day at “Digger World” (I’ve been banned from going back)
I’m also AEC(UK) certified (it would seem that even though there is no certification, it’s OK to write this)
4. How would you sum up your value to Evolve clients? I have been working in CAD and BIM for most of my adult life. I’ve seen it from all sides whether that’s delivering projects, the IT requirements, setting up systems and teaching others. There is very little I can’t make software do… if I can’t, then I’ll write an app for it (I know it’s geeky but I love coding!).
5. What was the first job you ever had? My first job was a paper round for the local shop. Every time I visit the shop these days the chap reminds me of how my dad answered the phone and told him he would “rattle my cage” to get me up (I liked sleep when I was younger).
6. What part of your job do you enjoy the most? The reason I started working with CAD was very much a passion for drawing. My start came from doing work experience at an architectural practice – they sat me down and I drew things on CAD for 5 days. What could be more fun? To this extent, I love it when my clients need help with the modelling.
7. What’s the most challenging aspect of your job? Working with Nigel.
8. Which quote best sums up your approach to life? A glass is neither half full or half empty, it’s always full – half of some imaginary beverage, the other half by air.
9. What do you do to relax? I’m not much of a relaxing kind of person. I’ve got a few pursuits outside of work including blasting the trails on both my motorcross bike and my mountain bike and, although I haven’t been in a while, I’m learning to fly.
10. Who would you most like to be stuck in a lift with, alive or dead? A lift engineer!
e: daniel@evolve-consultancy.com
m: +44 (0)7972 864 818
t: @dheselwood
Name: Nigel Davies
Nickname(s): I’ve been called many things in my life: Niggle, Twinnie, Crashy, Bananaman, Old Spice and Darth Nige. Just don’t call me anything other than “Nigel” or “Sir” if you want a reply.
Position: CEO. Officially I’m a Director, but CEO sounds more important.
So, Nigel, tell us…
1. Where were you born? I wasn’t born, I was forged by an illicit encounter between a BIM God and a human mother.
2. Do you have any siblings? Yes, I have an identical twin. You can only tell us apart by the tattoos.
3. What are your qualifications? Surprisingly similar to Daniel’s:
11 O-Levels (not GCSEs because I’m that much older and wiser)
2 A/O-Levels
2 A-Levels
HNC in Civil Engineering
NVQ in Sports Leadership
And experience. You can never underestimate the qualification value of experience.
4. How would you sum up your value to Evolve clients? I like to believe I’m the extra pair of hands they always wish they had. Or an extra pair of eyes. I can take a situation and provide a focussed, independent perspective which will resolve the challenge and yet do it in a practical and pragmatic way.
5. What was the first job you ever had? If you mean part-time, I washed dishes at a golf club in my teens. My first full-time job was working for Lloyds Bank, believe it or not. I hated my time there, but it taught me an awful lot about customer service.
6. What part of your job do you enjoy the most? Something I can really get my teeth into – problems I’ve not come across before that take every gram of my concentration to work through. I like a challenge.
7. What’s the most challenging aspect of your job? Problems I’ve not come across before that take every gram of my concentration to work through.
8. Which quote best sums up your approach to life? “Take everything seriously, but do it with a smile on your face.” I don’t know who said that. Maybe it was me.
9. What do you do to relax? I’m a qualified aikido instructor, so a bit of harmonising the spirit as hard as possible does wonders for the stress levels.
10. Who would you most like to be stuck in a lift with, alive or dead? I think whoever is the Prime Minister at the time would be a great lift buddy. That way they have no possible escape from your ranting, and no-one would know if you beat them with a big pointy stick.
e: nigel@evolve-consultancy.com
m: +44 (0)7970 630 559
t: @nigelpdavies
LEARNING TO EVOLVE…
Our curriculum has developed for this semester. We’re now offering a wide range of “Practical Modelling” workshops, intended to get your team learning faster and more effectively by modelling directly on the projects they are working on.
- BIM Awareness Workshop
- Practical Architectural Modelling with Revit 2014
- Practical Structural Modelling with Revit 2014
- Practical Architectural Modelling with AECOsim Building Designer (we literally wrote the book on this!)
- Practical Structural Modelling with AECOsim Building Designer
You’ll find full details on all our training courses on our website.
JOIN THE TEAM
We’re looking for top-class consultants to join our team. Do you have what it takes? Do you:
- Have a background in architecture, structures, services or civil engineering?
- Have experience with implementing and configuring Revit and/or AECOsim?
- Know your PAS from your BS?
- Work well under pressure?
- Explain your point well?
- Stand on your own two feet?
- Know how to find the most suitable answer when no-one is asking the right questions?
If you can answer yes to all of the questions above, we want to hear from you! Send a copy of your CV to admin@evolve-consultancy.com with 10 sentences on “Why I know I’m an expert, not just think I am” and we promise we’ll reply.
KEEP IN TOUCH
We’re planning on being at a few of the major conferences this term:
- BSi BIM Conference, London, 19/09/2013
- AU2013, Las Vegas US 03-05/12/2013
If you’re going, let us know, we’d love to share learning and a beer or two with you. If you can’t make it, drop us a line using the details below anyway. It’s always good to keep in touch!
Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash