An aspiration for many engineers, we caught up with Jon to find out more about his journey so far and why he would recommend professional registration to others…
Hi Jon, congratulations! How does it feel to be a Fellow?
“Achieving Fellowship at any age is an outstanding feat of engineering however I am very proud, at 34 years young, to be the youngest elected Fellow of the IMechE within the history of Morson!
![](https://newsite.morson-projects.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Jon-Callahan-BW-1024x1015.png)
“The experience and opportunities I have had at Morson Projects have allowed me to work on some of the most exciting engineering projects out there; switching from military jets to commercial helicopters and from small business aircraft to some of the largest aeroplanes in the sky. It is a privilege that these opportunities within Morson Projects have been recognised in my election to Fellow Engineer with the IMechE.”
What was the process for becoming a fellow?
“Having achieved Chartership at 27 years old with the IMechE, I set my sights firmly on progressing to Fellow ever since! The found the process very similar to that of Chartership, however the jump from Chartered to Fellow back now seems enormous. I’m very proud to have led such highly technical roles within Morson Projects which has allowed me to manage multiple teams of engineering specialists and end up where I am today.
“My latest role as Principal Engineer, operating at the highest level of software verification for our client, Rolls Royce, has allowed me to influence policy and technical direction of software verification activities as well as present to the Rolls Royce Process Board all of which formed the basis of my Fellowship application.”
What support did you receive from the Morson team?
“Morson Projects are lucky to have two fantastic Fellow Engineers with the IMechE, our Executive Director Chris Burke and our Business Development Director Syd Carson have both been Fellows for as long as I’ve known each of them. I ambushed an unsuspecting Syd back in October 2021 and he cleared his diary for the afternoon as we went through each step of a very rough draft that I had been putting together for quite some time. The support I received following this meeting from both Chris and Syd has been fantastic, including the opportunity to partake in additional training courses to strengthen my application for Fellowship.”
How does this benefit your team and clients moving forward?
“Professional registration is the engineering industry’s gold standard. It gives engineers continuous access to world-class resources to deliver the best solutions to clients time and time again.
“Morson Projects is at the forefront of some of the biggest engineering challenges throughout the UK in multiple engineering industries. Achieving Fellowship at 34 years old is a true status of how disciplined and talented our development programme is within Morson Projects and I’m sure this milestone marks the start of further Fellowship applications from our engineers which I look forward to supporting.
“As an elected Fellow our clients gain recognition of the engineering talent within our group at a time where we are becoming preferred supplier to more and more of our clients!”
Why would you encourage others to pursue professional registration? What are the benefits to them?
“CPD is at the forefront of all levels of professional registration and ensures that you continue to be proficient and competent in your profession whilst also providing you with essential skills that could help progress your career. Over the last 7 years I have taken a very active role within my CPD and I encourage all engineers of any age to consider professional registration and actively pursue all CPD opportunities available to them.
“By pursuing professional registration engineers will become more effective in the workplace, stay up to date with changing trends and maintain and enhance their engineering knowledge. In our ever-diverse list of clients within Morson Projects it is vital that we see and believe in the benefits of CPD within our workplace!”
Jon has also volunteers to host a “Professional Registration” workshop internally across Morson Projects for his peers later this month to explain more about his journey and knowledge surrounding professional registration, having recently been through the process.
To find out more, please visit the IMechE website or contact Jon on 0161 707 1516 who is happy to share his advice and experiences.