Paul is an independent consultant working at the nexus of public and private heat networks, having most recently spent five years at Vattenfall and, before that, a long career at Whitby Bird and Ramboll.His route in started early, a grandfather he knew as an engineer without ever learning what he did, an uncle's stories over slabs of Irn Bru, a laser lab in Liverpool, and a week of work experience on a harbour build that showed him the scale and impact of real infrastructure. A gap-year CAD job became a general engineering degree at Cambridge, which became geotechnics almost by chance when Whitby Bird won the BBC Broadcasting House project, which eventually became energy, and then heat networks, the only thing he does now.In this episode, we explore what a non-linear engineering career actually looks like from the inside why exposure matters more than knowing exactly where you'll end up, how the mentors who gave him space to learn and fail shaped everything, and why he went from "total skeptic" of district heating to total advocate. We talk about the Scotland Heat Map he helped build, the economic case for backing young engineers early, and what it really takes to move from doing the engineering to leading the people who do it. We also get into chartership why he failed the first time, why he deserved to, and what the second attempt taught him, plus his belief that the future of heat lies in coordinated regional energy companies rather than 32 organisations repeating the same lessons.This is an honest conversation for students and early career engineers wondering how a career builds when you stay open to the pivot have a spark, keep feeding it, and be careful not to overfeed it.

Connect with Paul Steen on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulsteen

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Episode 50. Two years, 56 guests.

There's no straight line into engineering.

In this milestone solo episode, recorded at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS), Josh shares the four things 49 conversations have taught him about how people actually build careers in engineering, why the routes in matter far less than what you do once you're there, and why there's never been a more important time to back young people into this industry.

Josh also joined by Kirsty Pinnell, who leads the internship programme at NMIS, to talk about what a real route into industry looks like in practice.

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National Manufacturing Institute Scotland - https://www.nmis.scot

NMIS Internship 2026 Programme -https://www.nmis.scot/work-with-us/careers/internship/

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Follow Engineer a CareerLinkedIn: @engineeracareerInstagram: @engineeracareerTikTok: @engineer.a.careerYouTube: @engineeracareerWebsite: www.engineeracareer.co.uk

Tobias is a renewable energy engineer, founder of Embodied, and one of the most layered guests we've had on the podcast.

His career has taken him from Germany to Sweden, the United States, China, Norway and now Scotland — through solar cell research at Fraunhofer, hydrogen compressor development, and into his own boutique engineering consultancy. But the most interesting part of his story isn't the geography. It's the mindset.

In this conversation, Tobias and Josh get into why most jobs are never advertised, and why Tobias made a decision to never apply for a role again. They talk about the shift from negotiating for a job to laying out what you contribute, and how serendipity, openness and existing relationships have shaped every step of his career. From there the conversation moves into why "energy sovereignty" is a more useful frame than net zero, the embodied emissions hiding inside the renewables industry, and what it actually takes to bring engineering teams together around a shared cause. They close on how self-discovery, mindfulness and bio-inspired thinking are changing how Tobias designs.

If you're a student or graduate engineer who's tired of the application treadmill, or an engineering leader thinking about how your teams really work, there's something in this one for you.