/ 21/7/2017 Staff Profile - Jess Hallam

Jess, 25, is a BA product design graduate from Nottingham Trent University working at AME as an Industrial Designer.

She joined AME in November 2015, fulfilling her ambition to be part of a design consultancy team.

“When you’re a BA product design student all you want to do is join a design consultancy which is what I’ve done and it’s great,” says Jess, who has A-levels in photography, product design and art.

During her four-year course at Nottingham Trent, Jess had a year out at a company specialising in point of sale units for the cosmetic industry. She returned there after graduating, spending a year gaining experience which proved invaluable when joining AME.

Jess says: “During my placement year, I learned a lot about the manufacturing side of product design. I was involved in decision-making, client meetings and approval of first off manufactured parts for the units that were being produced. I also gained knowledge about injection moulding so overall my year out prepared me greatly for joining AME.”

At AME, Jess is able to express her design capabilities, having wanted to concentrate more on the creative side of product design.

She works across a number of projects including the execution of graphical work for SoloProtect, a Sheffield-based business which makes communication devices for lone workers.

The company’s Identicom product was designed and developed by AME with SoloProtect’s software partners and has become the most widely used dedicated lone worker device.

In addition to the delivery of day-to-day work, Jess enjoys being involved in new projects. She says: “This means I’m learning a lot more about product design and how you sketch out ideas – I really like that. I’m also learning more about prototyping and I’m interested in the engineering side of the AME business too.”

Jess is impressed with AME’s 20-year track record in product design, prototyping and manufacture. “It’s great being part of a strong team where I get a lot of support and advice and where feedback is given too, there is always room to improve. “It’s great to be involved in such a wide variety of projects – it means every day is different.”