Meet our Mentors
Scottish Engineering Mentoring Programme
Mentoring can inspire, support, and motivate people to realise their potential and achieve their dreams. In our careers, as in life in general, we can sometimes reach that point where we are unsure of how to progress, or maybe we are just looking for that “spark” to help move us to the next stage in our personal development. This is where mentors come in.
A mentor helps accelerate growth by providing unique perspectives, advice, and encouragement. By reflecting on their own experiences, they can help their mentee avoid the same mistakes they have made and provide the confidence and courage to explore new ideas and ways of working.
Our Mentoring Programme is open once again for new candidates looking for support in building their careers. Our inclusive programme is open to all, whether in technical/engineering roles or key support functions; whether apprentices, technicians, experienced professionals, or managers. This Programme is included through Membership, so there’s no additional cost to Member companies. All of our mentors are recently retired/semi-retired senior professionals from the engineering and manufacturing industry, and all boast a wealth of experience in professional engineering, project management, and leadership roles. The Mentors work on a volunteer basis and are extremely passionate about transferring their knowledge and experience to the next generation of professionals.
Lorraine O’Reilly
C.Eng B.Eng.
Lorraine has 38 years’ experience working with The Ministry of Defence, she has worked across many of its sub-departments and held senior leadership roles in infrastructure management, programme management, facilities management, and standardization. Lorraine began her career as an apprentice and developed an early career anchor in electrical power engineering. Her career history stretches from Naval Base Clyde at Faslane to ten years spent in Germany supporting British Forces and allies, to Bristol where defence equipment is designed and procured, to Glasgow where she was the lead on equipment standardization and to Brussels as the UK rep to NATO’s Standardization Committee. Her final role in defence took her back full circle to Clyde, as the infrastructure lead. She has worked extensively in partnership with industry and is a strong advocate of positive stakeholder collaboration and engagement. Lorraine has taken advantage of the opportunity and retired early from the MOD. As one of our current ScotEng mentors, she is very keen to promote engineering as a great career opportunity for anyone and women in particular. Lorraine lives in Balloch with her husband Stuart and enjoys travel, music, art and photography.
David Arnold
David has extensive experience in the energy sector and retired in early 2016 with more than half of his 32-year career in renewable energy. His career was wide and varied and involved the development and management of multiskilled teams. He has held leadership and management positions with Scottish Power (Iberdrola), Weirs, Sgurr Energy and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult. His expertise covers engineering, compliance, Health and Safety, O&M, M&A and the development and delivery of large-scale energy projects. From 2012 to 2016 he ran his own energy renewable energy. He is married and enjoys golf, walking, travel and cuisine.