meet the engineering team - Chris Hill

My involvement in this project

In a nutshell, I am responsible for turning this programme into a reality. There are several discrete projects and activities in a number of different disciplines that need to be undertaken in order to achieve this. Ranging from the cutting edge, ultra clean engineering involved in developing the drill and instrumentation to the more political world of permitting and environmental considerations, not to mention an incredibly complex and expensive logistics chain. There are some top notch people working on this programme all doing a great job, but ultimately someone needs to bring it all together to make a cohesive and successful programme. That’s my role!

What does being in this project mean to you personally?

As an engineer, I am definitely excited by some of the technical challenges involved in accessing and sampling Lake Ellsworth but, more than that, as programme manager I have a unique opportunity to steer and direct the activity of this programme to deliver the scientific outcomes.

I will be a very happy man on the day we see the first papers published from this programme, knowing that I was instrumental in obtaining the samples and data.

Have you been to Antarctica before?

I have been to Antarctica every year for the past 13 years. My work has involved mainly communication systems based projects on all five BAS stations and both ships and has had a significant, positive impact on the operational activities of BAS.