How long have you been part of the
Argon team?
My current role is Production Manager at Argon. I originally joined the company in 2005 as an administrative assistant, which included supporting some of the production work, such as purchasing, setting up bills of materials and so on. That required some pretty fast learning on the how all the existing systems worked and about the wider industries in which Argon worked.
Not long after I joined, I developed an interest in the engineering and product design side of things. So, the company helped support my degree in Computer Hardware and Software Engineering at Coventry University. After that, I took the lead on product design, including creating specifications and writing firmware and software, for products such as the LCD3.3-SIM and RadEye GF10-SIM.
In early 2023, I was promoted to Production Manager, which felt like a natural step for me considering my experience and knowledge of the business. I continue to work with our engineering team to test and document all our products and solutions, ensuring they are easy to manufacture and replicate as required. We have quite a large product range and I have worked on at least 20 different products over the years.
Did you design Argon’s latest MultiGAS simulator?
I designed our first MultiGAS simulator, which was a kind of ‘halfway house’ version that worked using a smart phone. In doing so, we proved that there was demand for it in the market. After that, we developed it further to create the next design that turned it into an embedded, handheld unit. I learned a lot about what our end users wanted from it and how to give them exactly what they needed.
In my current role, I am still involved in software engineering work, working closely with the team to consult on design queries of our products at the various stages of development.
I remain fully aware of what is being worked on, and which products are at the various stages of development. I manage the production engineering, testing teams and processes and have more of a bird’s eye view of it all.
“ I designed our first MultiGAS simulator, which was a kind of ‘halfway house’ version that worked using a smart phone.”
How does Argon offer a safer way to train?
Our solutions offer a safe and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional CBRNe training. Because our equipment uses radio signals and simulated radiation, there are no harmful substances involved at all. This eliminates the risks, costs and logistical challenges faced when using real radioactive or chemical sources.
Where is the global demand for Argon’s products?
There is a lot of global growth going on at the moment. Our sales team work to identify the geographical locations where we should be promoting our products. We have target areas all over the world, including the Middle East, Asia and South America. There are also other target sectors that we are exploring, such as healthcare and medical organisations. We are starting a lot of exciting conversations and it is a great time to be at Argon.
“ There are also other target sectors that we are exploring, such as healthcare and medical organisations. ”
What do you enjoy most about your job at Argon?
I really enjoy how smoothly the organisation runs, and how efficiently we’re able to deliver high-quality products. It’s really rewarding as Production Manager to see all the work that goes into delivering our equipment and then receiving great feedback from our customers.
It’s an unusual sector to specialise in, developing simulation training tools for scenarios like chemical or nuclear incidents is both technically challenging and highly relevant, especially given how much these topics feature in public discussion today.
Think about how useful and safe a training platform can be if it replicates what a real threat looks like, in which people can experience realistic conditions without being exposed to real threats such as radiation or chemical weapons. Imagine how people would feel knowing there is a way in which training can be held anywhere, whenever and however they want, without compromising neither their safety, their loved ones or the community at all. Now, include the reduction in the ownership cost, the environmental benefit, and access to a wide variety of technologies into this equation. That is a very hard thing to do, and when we’re in the field demonstrating our equipment, customers are routinely impressed and astonished with what our equipment can do.
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