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About David Boettcher

My Family Name

I know from experience that most English speakers boggle when they see the name "Boettcher", but it's easy to say when you know how.

My great-grandfather was German and came to England in 1900 in search of work. In Germany he spelt his surname with an o with two dots over it, called an "umlaut", like this: Böttcher. The standard way to render an ö in English is to write it as "oe", but this doesn't actually help much with its pronunciation. In German, the ö is pronounced like "ur" and the two "t"s are soft, so say "Bur-cher" and you won't be far off.

Engineering Qualifications

• Eur Ing: European Engineer. This title, administered by FEANI (The European Federation of National Engineering Associations), is a guarantee of competence for professional engineers which is recognised throughout Europe. Registrants are entitled to use the title Eur Ing and listed in the FEANI Register, a database maintained by the Secretariat General in Brussels. Although not widely known by the general public, the title is recognised by professional engineering institutions throughout Europe and the wider world. The UK Privy Council has approved the use of Eur Ing as a pre-nominal, the Passport Agency allows it as a title on passports.
• CEng: Chartered Engineer. This qualification is granted by the Engineering Council of the UK (ECUK). Under its Royal Charter, the Engineering Council regulates the engineering profession in the UK. To become a Chartered Engineer, you must satisfy the competence standards set by ECUK, and be a full member of a Licensed Engineering Institution.
• MIET: Member of The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), one of the world's leading professional societies for engineers and technologists. The IET was formed in March 2006 by the amalgamation of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and the Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE). I was a member of the IEE (MIEE) until this amalgamation and, as a former member of the IEE, I can still use the designation MIEE if I choose. The IET provides a global knowledge network to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and ideas, and promotes the positive role of Science, Engineering and Technology in the world. To become a member of the IET requires a degree-level qualification in a relevant subject, proven post-graduate experience, and responsibility within a relevant industry.
• BSc(Hons): I graduated in 1980 as a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Engineering from the University of Bath. Bath is located in the south west of England in the county of Somerset. With natural hot thermal springs, Roman Baths, the magnificent Pump Room, the splendid Abbey, sweeping Georgian crescents of houses in honey coloured sandstone, the Royal Theatre and many excellent pubs and restaurants, Bath is a beautiful and unforgettable place, and I totally enjoyed my three years there. If you get the chance to visit, don't miss it!

Experience

I spent 20 years working in the nuclear power construction industry as an engineer, systems analyst and safety case specialist. I worked on, amongst others, Hartlepool and Heysham 1 Advanced Gas Cooled Reactors (AGRs), Sizwell B Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR), early designs for Hinkley Point C and Lungmen, a proposed pressurised water reactor design for the Taiwan Power Company. The image shows the Sizewell Nuclear Power Station site with Sizewell B in the forground and Sizewell A in the background. After completion of Sizewell B, I became self employed as a specialist nuclear safety consultant, and in retail and IT.

During my experience in the nuclear industry I worked on all aspects of nuclear safety: mechanical, electrial, C&I (control and instumentation) and hazards. I am familiar with probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), hazards and operability (HAZOP) assessments, etc. etc. I have particular experience in the safety analysis of reactor safety and protection systems, reactor control systems, station control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, and the functional and ergonomic design of control rooms and man-machine interfaces (MMI).

I was a member of the British Standards Institute (BSI) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and Chairman of an IEC working group, IEC Technical Committee TC45 Working Group A7.

I have experience of the management of large and complex projects, both scheduling (critical path analysis and risk management) and budgeting. It was my experience of budgeting on Sizewell B, and the proposed replica of Sizewell B at Hinkley Point C, that made me realise that nuclear power was not cost-competitive with coal, and was much more expensive than gas fired electricity generation, and this is what lead me to leave the industry.

I also have Public Relations (PR) experience in the form of experience of presenting to conferences in the UK and internationally, writing publicity information and making informational videos.

When I left the nuclear industry I worked in retail, running two busy physical shops and also selling over the internet - a "clicks and mortar" business. Traditional town centre retailing suffered even before the rise of internet shopping due to the development of edge-of-town and out-of-town retailing, increasing business rates, and falling footfall due to the high cost and limited availability of town centre parking. I worked together with fellow business owners to try to ameliorate these problems - I was elected President of the Chamber of Trade - but the town council were oblivious to the problems and continued to make life difficult for motorists and shoppers, so I closed my physical shops and continued with sales over the internet.

Information Technology

I first used a computer in 1975, long before the IBM PC was conceived. In those days programming was done by paper tape or punched cards. I have used a computer virtually every working day since then, although they have moved on a bit. I can build a computer from parts, and I can program in ancient languages like FORTRAN and COBOL and BASIC, but nowadays I use HTML, CSS, Java, PHP and SQL.

During my time in retailing I implemented several Inventory Control / Point of Sale systems to provide stock control and point of sale support, giving real time tracking and reporting of stock levels and cash takings, allowing detailed real time reports on e.g. Stock Turn Ratio (STR) and Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) to be used to manage retail operations effectively. If analysed at the Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) level, these two key metrics can really show the profit performance of individual departments and lines of stock.

Ergonomics

One of the areas I became particularly interested and involved with was the incorporation of considerations of human performance and human factors (sometime called "ergonomics" or engineering psychology) into the design process, particularly of nuclear reactor control rooms. Too often designers neglect these considerations, which leads to many unneccessary accidents. If you are interested in my thoughts about human factors and safety, please take a look at my page about Ergonomics

The Economics and Safety of Nuclear Power

During my time in the nuclear power industry I worked on many aspects of the construction of Nuclear Power Stations (NPS), their engineering, nuclear safety, and their economics of construction and operation. If you are interested in my thoughts about the economics and safety of nuclear power, please take a look at my page about Nuclear Power.

Vintage Watches and Watch Repairing

If, like me, you are interested in vintage watches, especially First World War era officer's trench watches, you should visit my web site www.VintageWatchStraps.com.

I am a member of the British Horological Institute (BHI), the British Watch & Clockmakers Guild (BWCMG), the Antiquarian Horological Society (AHS) and the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC).

I have written articles about vintage watches and watch technology that have been published in the NAWCC Watch & Clock Bulletin, the British Horological Institute's Horological Journal and the BWCMG magazine Timepiece.

In January 2019, the Board of the BHI upgraded me to a Fellow of the British Horological Institute (FBHI).

Industrial Archaelogy

As an engineer I am not just fascinated by the latest gadgets and gizmos, but also by the industrial archaeology and the development of engineering technology right from the invention of the steam engine by Thomas Newcomen around 1700. If you want to read my take on Newcomen's brilliant breakthrough that started the industrial revolution, go to my page about him, Thomas Newcomen.

Engine Thermostats

Since my degree course I have had an interest in thermodynamics and the physics of heat. One day I was discussing the operation of a thermostatic radiator valve with my late father-in-law, and I likened it to the operation of an engine thermostat. During the course of the conversation I realised that my father-in-law thought that an engine thermostat was always either fully open or fully closed, and I couldn't convince him that it actually modulated, so I wrote this page Engine Thermostats about how an engine thermostat does actually operate. But I never convinced my father-in-law . . . .

Availability

I am based in Cheshire, England. I am available for consultation on engineering, business, computing/IT and web matters, and I welcome requests to write or proof read technical articles.

Please feel free to contact me via the Contact me page.