He has been with Syngenia for over four years now, but as Ray Ashley himself says, he’s a “special case”.
While he should be enjoying a laid-back retirement in the sunny South, he has instead decided to extend his professional career for a few more years, in order to pass on his important knowledge to engineers who are active in Belgium’s nuclear sector.
For, as this École Polytechnique graduate, trained in thermal hydraulics, puts it himself, he’s a real walking encyclopaedia of nuclear technology. And well he might be. Back in 1974, he joined the team tasked with monitoring the safety of Belgian nuclear power stations. He has remained in the sector ever since. So he knows his stuff!
“In 1974, there was no such thing as IT,” he recalls, “and the nuclear norms and regulations were still in their infancy. It was all down to the experts’ thinking and foresight, without much in the way of connectivity. These days, human skills are still vital for correctly interpreting the information provided by the machines. Those skills are the guarantors of nuclear safety.”
Ray appreciates the mission that has been assigned to him and takes it very much to heart. He supports and informs the teams, and he is developing a set of teaching tools, recordings and e-learning modules aimed at future generations of engineers.
“The pleasure of sharing my knowledge with the younger generations is what motivates my work from day to day,” he concludes. Syngenia is proud to have him aboard, as he’s the very embodiment of the talent development values that lie at the core of our mission.
