Legend has it that a double rainbow and a glowing new star appeared in the heavens to herald the birth of Adam Thomas Flaherty, in 1987, in Stafford’s cherished but MRSA-ridden, County Hospital.

Born with a full head of hair and a full head of teeth, lions roared, wolves howled, and whales all sung across the globe for the arrival of the chosen CAD Presales One. I wish it was that interesting…

I was asked to put together some words on a “Get to Know Me” article for the newsletter – I’ll try my best not to bore you and I’ve added some images for some lols. So here goes;

Preschool

I grew up in a small village in Staffordshire called Brereton, right next to the town of Rugeley.  Rugeley is historically a market town but post WW2 became known for mining coal until the mines got shut down in the late 80’s/early 90’s. 

The most recognisable feature of Brereton/Rugeley is that we’ve got a coal-fuelled power station right next to us.

I can’t really remember much around this this time but from what I’m told, it was a conventional early year’s upbringing, nothing out of the ordinary.  I have a younger sister by 18 months: Heather. So just the usual, no visits to any secret governmental agencies or anything like that…

My family had a dog at the time - Ben the Rottweiler – and apparently, he used to be my protector, always standing guard next to me.

I met my oldest and best friend growing up, Bernard, in nursery school during this time and we are still really good mates some 25+ years later.

Primary School

I went to Hob Hill Primary School in Brereton.  It was a good school and I have fond memories of my time there.  I made friends, learned a lot, laughed a lot etc…

It was here that I discovered my love for sports and at age seven I started playing for one of the local boys football clubs – Brereton Town F.C.  (the image of the Power Station is taken from the corner of Brereton Town’s football pitch).

I played football until I was 12 after discovering new sports in High School.

We had two dogs while I was in primary School; Fred and Barney.  We gave Barney to a farm as he was an energetic Border Collie, but we had Fred up until the ripe old age of 17.  Not bad for a Border Collie/Labrador cross.

High School

Hagley Park High School was my choice at age 11.  There were three to choose from but everyone I knew was going to Hagley.  Hagley had around 750 students, about 150 per year so was quite the jump out of Primary School.

High School was high school though.  It had its ups and downs.  There were great moments and not so great moments.  I made new friends, learned a lot and was a Prefect for the last year - which came with the nice perk of being able to go into the town for lunch.

During my high school days, I was introduced to Tennis and Badminton though which would feature quite heavily in my life to come. 

At about 13/14 I started playing at both Rugeley Tennis club and Rugeley Badminton Club, playing some league matches too.

At 15 I was asked to train with the U15 Staffordshire Badminton Team so at this point I had to choose between Tennis or Badminton.  After much thought, I made my decision and within 12 months I was representing Staffordshire U17s Badminton Team. 

College

My overall college/sixth form experience was a little different from the norm - I completed my 1^st year (AS levels) but decided to switch courses to a Sports Coaching and Exercise Science BTEC the college had just started offering.  I essentially did 3 years at college but achieved the BTEC whilst continuing and completing 2 A levels.

The days on the coaching course were amazing, I have many fond memories from those 2 years and some friends for life.

University – Coming to America

At first, I wasn’t going to go to university.  At the time, I wanted to go into full-time sports coaching and didn’t want the dreaded student debt, but it was a chance encounter with an old family friend that changed my mind.  He was a lecturer at Staffs Uni and they had just started offering a new course that had elements of physiology & anatomy, biomechanics, engineering and design.  This strange blend of modules was labelled “Sports Technology”.

I was very interested and before I knew I was enrolled and turning up for the first lecture.

The course was very interesting.  Tough at times but all worthwhile.  It was this course I have to thank for being able to call you all my colleagues as it was here where I first was introduced to one of our beloved products from PTC.  Pro/Engineer Wildfire 4.  Imagine if the Uni had offered a different CAD system?!  Then I wouldn’t be here today.

I completed my first two years, nothing to out of the ordinary, went to Holland and Norway for a couple of Uni badminton tournaments but in the summer before my final year I decided to get involved with Camp America.

From May to the beginning of August I was the designated Soccer Coach at LakeView Day Camp in East Brunswick, New Jersey in the USA.

This experience was truly amazing, and I would recommend any student to do this. 

My colleagues and I at camp had it very lucky though – most people, when they think of American summer camps, they think of sleepover camps where you are working with the kids 24/7.  Not us.  Our camp was more of a summer school where parents would drop them off at 8am and pick them up between 5-7pm.  Evenings and weekends were our own, so we made the most of it.

During those 3+ months we got to travel around a lot of the East Coast with frequent visits into the nearest city – New York.  One weekend, we somehow got hold of some tickets to a free concert Bon Jovi was headlining in Central Park.  It was a very entertaining evening.

I could write loads about my time during camp, but I am conscious that you most likely have work to do so if you want to know any more, then just ask.

After camp I came back and set out to complete my degree.  All with the motivation to get back out to the States.

Before I sat my last exams, I had a job offer to go back to New Jersey to coach Soccer once again but this time full-time at an academy.

I pursued this and as soon as I finished my final exam, I was on a plane back over the pond.  I didn’t even stay for my graduation ceremony, so I missed getting my picture with mortarboard and gown. Much to my mum’s annoyance.

Post University – Back to the USA

I worked at Sports Domain Academy (SDA) in Montclair, New Jersey USA for about 15 months before coming back to England “to start a proper career”.

My time at SDA was interesting, filled with everything football.  Sorry – soccer.  The other employees were pretty much all British too so no culture shocks or anything of that nature.  I have many stories about this too so in efforts to keep this readable just ask if you’re interested.

Back Home

Once settling back in the UK, I worked a couple of odd jobs before being hired at Fuel Conservation Services Ltd (FCS) who specialise in furnace and kiln manufacture, maintenance and repair.

It was here that I had a chance encounter with a Mr. Lee Edmunds wanting to sell me some CAD.  I met with him and together we brought 3D CAD to FCS and revolutionised their design process.

Three years down the line and that same chap is back in my office wanting to sell me some Windchill but in the same conversation tells me how the company he works for is hiring technical people.

I’m interested in a new challenge, submit my CV and hey presto, started as an Application Engineer four years ago.

That four years has gone by like a flash.  So, this was a little about me.  Apologies for the length of this but hopefully it has been slightly interesting. Thanks for your attention now get back to work!