EW BrightSparks 2023 profile: Nathan Dickson, BT

Now in its sixth year of awards, EW BrightSparks sees Electronics Weekly highlight and celebrate some of the brightest and most talented young engineers in the UK today.

Here, in our series on the latest EW BrightSparks of 2023, we profile Nathan Dickson, a Network DevOps Engineer at BT.

Achievements

Testimonials completed by Nathan’s nominators told us that, having completed his apprenticeship, Nathan has shown academic excellence while also being the driving factor behind the automation revolution in BT’s Network Integration Test team. We learned that he is “a truly outstanding team member” and that his “drive and dedication are unparalleled”.

Within one year, he pitched, planned, developed, and delivered the beta version of the company’s OneTest software while also leading the development squad as scrum master. They described him as an exceptional member of BT’s Test team.

Nathan shone throughout his apprenticeship, for example, when he built an application providing insight into the physical UK network configuration to enable better planning, saving the business over £1m pounds. Since his assimilation, he has revolutionised Test’s processes by challenging the status quo and pitching a bold revision of the team goals through a focus on upskilling and automation, his supervisors told us.

In his job as Network DevOps Engineer, Nathan has shown exceptional commitment and innovation by pitching and delivering the BT’s Test team’s own automation tool.

It’s a two-fold solution. The first part was the development of a software interface which automates engineers’ interactions with the model and which captures and automatically stores all outputs in a retrievable format.

The second part was a change in the physical model from a patch-panel approach to a centrally orchestrated layer-1 switch solution (using Polatis layer-1 switches) which drastically reduced the amount of manual work needed to connect the devices needed for any given test.

Together, we learned, these enable engineers to automatically connect network devices into a topology, for engineers to write and run playbooks which execute tests on said topologies from the comfort of their desks, and to easily share and distribute the test results with Test and beyond.

Nathan is delivering this automation tool, OneTest, by managing a small software squad he assembled and was able to run a first project on it in March 2022. He and the software squad are now also working on improvements and even better integration with teams outside of Test.

“Ultimately, OneTest has future-proofed the Test team and has enabled its members to meet rising demands while meeting BT’s high standards,” said one of his nominators.

He also pitched, designed, built, and delivered an automation tool for use in the Network Integrated Test (NIT) team. Nathan put together a three-person software squad to help him with the beta delivery. Using Agile methodology, to deliver increments of value continuously, he took on additional training to take on the role as Scrum Master and has been leading the team to hit its goals. Most notably, this was to hit OneTest’s beta delivery goal within just one year of introducing the idea of automation.

His managers also told us:

“Finally, although Nathan shows dedication to progress and innovation, Nathan also ensures that the interpersonal side of business does not get left behind either. He is an active member of Test and also takes time to run the local induction of new apprentices to the business every September. He does this to look after new joiners and to make their transition into their new work environment as smooth as possible. He covers all typical induction activities but also incorporates activities like bowling or laser-tag to enable new apprentices to form their own bonds and friendships, which will help them as they build their career and move through the sometimes stressful stages of their apprenticeships.”

Coding

With a knowledge of coding languages including Python, Java, C and PHP, areas he has been involved with include: Virtualisation and server management, Network integration testing, Network automation, Network monitoring, Software development, CI/CD pipelines, and Machine Learning and AI.

He has a First Class BSc (Hons) in Digital & Technology Solutions (Software Engineering), has worked as a Research Assistant at the University of Suffolk (to be able to continue working on his dissertation project for Suffolk Libraries and Suffolk Mind after his graduation).

As well as wining an Elektra Award for Rising Star, Nathan was Highly Commended for Special Achievement in the National Tech Industry Gold Degree Apprenticeship Awards 2022, and finally, he won Dynamic Infrastructure Apprentice of the Year 2021 (an internal BT award).

Community

Nathan has helped bring together two charities: Suffolk Mind and Suffolk Libraries, by connecting the beneficiaries of the former with the varied events and activities organised by the latter to improve the mental health of Suffolk Mind’s beneficiaries.

For this, he developed a mapping algorithm which takes in event data (e.g. age group, time and date, description) and identifies which emotional needs the event meets.

Nathan then used AI to build a recommendation engine, which matches the beneficiaries’ needs with those previously analysed events and finally produces a tailored list of recommended activities for each individual user. The two charities were so impressed with Nathan’s work that he was asked to turn the prototype he developed for his dissertation project into a project which can be deployed in the future. The project required skills beyond what is taught in a regular software degree and Nathan used his project management skills, versatility and resourcefulness in order to develop excellent algorithms and to respond to changing needs throughout the duration of the project.

Nathan has been an avid scout in his youth and underwent scout leader training at 18. He has been volunteering as a scout leader with the Hadleigh Sea Scouts in various age groups since.

Currently, Nathan volunteers as a leader for the Beaver Scouts – the youngest scout group – once a week. In this role he accompanies them on their journey to discovering nature, friendships, cultures, and hopefully a love for the outdoors. Nathan has undertaken training to be a kayaking and axe-throwing instructor and passes his knowledge and skills on during special workshops and outings.

As an apprenticeship ambassador Nathan has also dedicated time to promoting apprenticeship schemes and building early careers. And he is part of the BT buddy system which provides additional guidance to new apprentices joining the business.