To celebrate his 17 years at MSP, we took a trip down memory lane with Equator Technical Lead, Ben Watson, to discover how he started his career in software development, what his highlights have been so far and his advice for young people entering the industry.
As Ben explains, his first experience with coding came early on: “I spent a frustrating amount of time in my early years copying lines of code from a programming manual onto on an old Amstrad”. This frustration didn’t deter Ben from his interest though and, and after his GCSE's he began teaching himself to code by writing small, text-based adventures. His career path naturally progressed from here and, in 2001, Ben joined Teesside University to study Computer Games Programming. Ben reflects: “It was only one of a few courses that existed in the field back in 2001!”.
This degree was a perfect fit for the work MSP was doing and Ben joined MSP in 2005 as a Graduate Software Engineer, working on Renishaw’s UCCserver which MSP helped create. He says: “Despite having no engineering / metrology experience, my degree offered many overlapping areas with MSP so it was ideal. All the key principles can be recycled and relevant to what is used within metrology software”. As part of this role, Ben was involved with testing the product, implementing small features and fixing bugs to get familiar with the large MSP codebase.
Over the next 12 years Ben progressed to Software Engineer and eventually Senior Software Engineer. During this time, his responsibility grew, and he moved onto implementing more significant features, increasing his involvement in the development process and discussing new features with Renishaw from the very start of the process. In 2017, he started working on prototype hardware for Renishaw’s Equator, moving over to the Equator team full time a few months later. He quickly progressed as part of this team and, in 2018, he became Equator Technical Lead, a position he’s been in ever since.
Ben works on EquatorServer - a software package responsible for communicating and driving Renishaw’s Equator machines via I++. In this role, his day to day tasks include coding, testing, building alphas, reviewing and merging code into MSP's top level, and liaising with Renishaw to discuss new work (e.g. bug fixing, creating features or support queries).
Ben explains: “I feel lucky to be in a job that suits me down to the ground - having a problem to solve, then tracking and isolating an issue before bringing it to a resolution gives me a lot of job satisfaction. One occasion that sticks out for me is when I spent weeks investigating an issue on the Equator and finally tracing it back to a slight thermal expansion on one of the struts which was very rewarding!
“I have a great working relationship with the teams at MSP and Renishaw which makes the development process we have really enjoyable.
“Even after all these years, whenever I see the masses of Equator machines at Renishaw running, I feel proud they are relying on software that I’ve helped develop. Likewise, it’s always great seeing customers actively using features I've added to the product from scratch. My top highlight has to be watching a trailer for one of the new Terminator films and seeing the probes I’ve written software for helping to construct the robots!”.
During his time at the company, Ben has seen MSP expand from one office housing just five programmers, to a courtyard of six offices containing the various teams and products that have developed over time. Ben says: “I joined MSP because I was excited by the challenge of the work they were doing and excited at the prospect of helping a small company grow. It makes me proud that I’ve played an instrumental part in MSP’s success from almost the very start”.
By staying at the same company for such a significant amount of time, Ben has been able to see the products and features he’s worked on grow and evolve over time and see them provide useful solutions for customers.
As someone with vast experience in the industry, we asked Ben what his advice would be for the future generation entering the sector: “I imagine a lot has changed, however, the basics will be the same! The best advice I can give is to pick at least two programming languages that you’re comfortable with and enjoy using. Otherwise, using them for your career every day will soon become a chore. Similarly, aim for a role in an industry/company which involves your interests. When applying for a new position, a massive portfolio isn’t essential but it’s good to have some relevant experience to demonstrate you’re capable or interested in a specific area suited to the role”.
Ben concludes: “I’m fortunate to have had such a long career at the same company and thankful for MSP’s support over these 17 years. It does beg the question though, what would I be doing if I wasn’t in software development? And the answer would have to be something conservation-based, either counting the number of lesser spotted woodpeckers in woodland or looking after bee hives!”
If you’re interested in starting your journey with MSP, visit our Careers Page to view the latest vacancies and get in touch.