Peter McCurry, Artemis Intelligent Power

15 February 07

Irishman Peter joined Artemis Intelligent Power, a ground-breaking technology company, having found the role on TalentScotland.

The research, by co-founder Professor Stephen Salter, became famous as the “Salter’s Duck” project which broke the mould in wave energy technology.

Artemis was spun out of the university’s mechanical engineering department in 1994 to exploit some discoveries by Professor Salter and colleagues in applying electronics to conventional hydraulics. The company has established itself firmly in the energy industry, serving both the renewable energy and mobile hydraulic, as well as the automotive sector.

Today the company employs 25 people, including engineers drawn from all over the world, and continues to expand. One recent recruit, Peter McCurry, applied to move to Edinburgh after reading about Artemis on Talentscotland.com.

We asked Peter, aged 29 and from Galway in Ireland, about what attracted him to Scotland.

"I found Talentscotland.com a great source of information on jobs and living in Scotland. One thing led to another, and I arrived here about two years ago."

Peter, what is your background?

I studied electronics and software at the National University of Ireland in Galway, and then completed post-graduate research there. From there I travelled to Australia for a year, and when I started thinking about returning to Europe I read about Artemis on the Talentscotland web-site. One thing led to another, and I arrived here two years ago.

Is Scotland a good place to work in your specialist area?

The work is really interesting. I am working on the software that controls the hydraulics process. There are a number of companies in the software and electronics sector in Edinburgh and central Scotland, although Artemis is operating in a specialist field of its own.

It is good to be involved in a company which is involved in renewables as well. I have a sense that this work needs to be done, because of climate change. I want to live in a better world, and to work in an industry which tackles global warming for example in wind and wave power, means something to me. It’s important work.

For you personally, is Scotland a good place to live?

From a personal point of view, there are direct flights between Galway and Edinburgh so I can get home easily when I want to. I enjoy surfing so I have managed to get some along the East coast and further North of that further north near Thurso. There is a buzz about Edinburgh which makes it a great place to live.

So you obviously recommend life in Scotland?

Definitely. Living in Edinburgh is great, but you can also get out into the countryside very quickly and easily, so it offers the best of both worlds. Scotland is quite like home for me so it was easy to adapt when I came here. We have people working here from 10 different countries, and I think the same points probably apply to them too. People are interested in everything from city life in Edinburgh to hill-walking and other rural activities, so Scotland is great for all that.

More information:

Company Spotlight Artemis Intelligent Power