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“He has dedicated much of his career in the development of young and upcoming railway engineering professionals all over the world.
He has written modules for the IRSE Exam and has also written a 444 page book, ensuring that the history of railway signalling goes from generation to generation.“
“Peter is driven to help inexperienced signalling engineers as they undertake their professional development. He has helped countless students, spending his own free time delivering study groups and exam support. Those students have then gone on to succeed in the signalling engineering professional exams with the IRSE.
Peter's enthusiasm with helping novice engineers is boundless, and his support is not only for technical subjects, but also pastoral, particularly towards students whereby English is not their first language. His patience in that regard is phenomenal.
There are many engineers (myself included) can count Peter as a true friend and mentor. He is an inspiration.“
“Peter is an eager contributor to the future of the railway, by supporting the learning and development of both new people in the industry as well as very experienced colleagues.
Peter organizes and teaches the IRSE Study Group in Chippenham for years, which is attended by people across countries and from different companies. Every Thursday Peter runs a different session related to signalling and answers the most varied questions.
Peter naturally (without management assignment) became a mentor for many individuals seeking career development. He invests a lot of his personal time in this support, even making himself regularly available even on weekends to support for example those taking the IRSE exam.
Peter also supports many individuals during their professional registration both with the IRSE and IET, being himself very familiar with the process.
I have never met anyone else so kind, open and willing to teach and support the career development of others. Peter is an exceptional individual and extremely deserving of this award.“
“For many years Peter has dedicated countless hours to running Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE) Study Groups and providing support to many developing engineers as they prepare for IRSE Exams. Peter dedicates a substantial amount of his own time in preparing for and providing this support, and is only too glad to provide additional support and guidance on request.
His sessions appeal to a range of knowledge bases, from those who are interested in learning more to those who keen to complete every exam module. In addition, individuals join from across organisations and indeed across the world, where Peter tailors his sessions to ensure everyone gets what they need from the group. His contribution also includes providing feedback from the group to the IRSE to ensure we are adequately represented with our queries and concerns.
Peter approaches each weekly session with enthusiasm and good humour, and I, and I'm sure many others, can consider myself a more knowledgeable engineer following Peter's expert guidance.“
“My nominee for the Rail staff Learning and Development Award is Peter Woodbridge. This nomination sets out how I feel he deserves this award and how much I have to thank him for.
I met Peter when he supported me preparing IRSE Exams through a Study Group starting in 2013. By this point he had been supporting Exam candidates for years, including those from both his company and others. With Peter's help I passed all the exams, gaining MIRSE and achieving Chartered Engineer registration. The knowledge and confidence I gained from Peter have also allowed me to gain promotion and flourish.
Peter's help has been generously given to many engineers, allowing them to develop and extend themselves as I have. He has drawn more people into running IRSE study groups and workshops, including many of his former tutees (I myself was able to run a study group and lead workshops for several years because of Peter's investment in me). Some of those Peter has supported have won the IRSE Thornwood and Signet Awards.
Peter has a huge wealth of knowledge and Experience on the UK Railways which he cheerfully shares, along with a huge library of resources. His passion for coaching, mentoring and tutoring people who want to learn about the railway, and particularly signalling, is immense and evident to the many individuals who have encountered him in many ways.
In addition to this (and his day job), Peter is a successful author (A Chronology of UK Railway Signalling) and has been involved in preserving Railway history. He is part of the group that preserved Swindon Panel, one of the original Western Region “turn push” type panels. This group reconstructed and refurbished the panel at Didcot Railway Centre, providing a simulator back-end for the educational benefit of visitors to the Centre.“
“I’ve known Peter for about 10 years and we met through various events organised by the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers, particularly the events organised by the Younger Members section and from the moment I met Peter it was clear he took an interest in helping people develop their knowledge and expertise by passing on his own knowledge and expertise.
One of the ways that Peter has helps develop the rail industries engineers is via the IRSE Exam and the study groups that he has been running for nearly 20 years.
These study groups aim to give candidates the breadth and depth of knowledge they need to pass the exam but it's actually what you learn at study group that makes you a good engineer and provides the rail industry with the engineers and leaders of the future.
Peter caters to a wide range of skills and backgrounds helping people understand things that they may not be directly able to learn about in their day job. I don’t know where else you get the breadth and depth of knowledge that you do in study group and it’s free.
Peter not only puts a huge amount of effort into the technical content but also pays attention to different learning styles and adapts sessions with the aim of helping people retain that information.
He encourages people to engage in conversations about a variety of topics irrespective of education, experience, background or role.
An example of this is when he turned a number of study group members into a human lever frame (I believe there are photos somewhere). Each person allocated a lever number and colour depending on what their function was. He even brought a tea towel in to pull the levers with and make it a truly authentic experience. The aim of this was to demonstrate the concept of mechanical lever locking.
Peter also plays a large part in organising study days and weekends for exam delegates.
These are really well thought out events and give delegates the opportunity to get hands on experience of kit that they may not in their day jobs – things such as signals, points, lever frames, panels, level crossings.
And there’s more:
Peter also organises trips to places like Didcot Railway Museum where they can ‘be a signaller’ for the day on the old Swindon Panel (Peter is also a member of the Swindon Panel Society) – this not only helps you understand signalling but also the operational side of the railway.
Peter also technically mentors a number of people on a one-to-one basis – this all happens around his day job – whether it's before work, at lunchtimes, evenings and weekends all with the aim to help people improve their knowledge and expertise.
Peter has also written a book, the purpose of which was to in part, provide a chronology of when technology was deployed on the railway and also include lessons learnt from accidents which again was to help study group members to gain more knowledge and understanding in order to pass the IRSE exam.
I’ve heard from many friends and colleagues in the industry over the year’s state that Peter was the reason they got through the exam.
Not only is Peter a role model for developing other but also teaching important topics such as safety.
Peter also mentors engineers through the process to becoming professionally registered by reviewing their applications and giving realistic mock interviews.
Peter's consistent commitment to helping develop the engineers and leaders of this company and industry is outstanding. I believe more people should be encouraged and supported to share their knowledge and expertise in the same way that Peter has done.
Peter is a role model for us all and I would like to say thank you for all of the help you have given me over the last 10 years.
The rail industry is a better place because of your input.“
“Not a doubt at all, Peter is the most appropriate and well-deserved to be a winner of the Rail staff Learning and Development Award. I nominate and support him with all my heart.
I have known Peter in my early railway career in 2006 whilst I worked in London Underground. Peter is the first Signalling Guru I have known then and so far, until now. Peter possesses a great deal of Signalling Knowledge and experience, which is a massive signalling resource and library for young signalling engineers not only in the UK but also in the other countries. Above all, Peter has willingness and kindness to help novice engineers for their development regardless of background. His enthusiasm to share and cascade his knowledge down to younger generation is an exceptional trait, an amazing character. That is what I adore about him.
When I met him around 2006, I was a novice and tried to become a signalling engineer. He was running IRSE study groups, workshops and mock exams. I registered as an Associate of IRSE and become a member of IRSE study group. Under his guidance, tutoring and mentorship, I passed Signalling Module (3) and Module (5). Without his support and guidance, it was not possible for me to pass these exams. I am very grateful to him.
Peter is an exceptional individual helping others for their learning and development. He has proven record of his dedication and commitment to it. He deserves this award for his enduring support and big contribution to the UK Railway Signalling Engineer communities.“
“Peter Woodbridge is, in my opinion, one of the greatest exemplars of the volunteers that enable the UK’s professional institutions to flourish. Peter has, for as long as I can remember, been an active promoter of learning in the Signalling and Control industry, both for those new to the industry and for more experienced individuals requiring a bit of guidance and advice (such as myself).
I first became aware of his activities when he was engaged in running professional examination study groups for the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE) exams and have since noted his regularly leading of weekend training days for young engineers as well as providing the main technical input to on-line forums and exam study groups. There cannot be many young engineers who have joined the Signalling and Control industry in the last 20 years who have not benefited hugely from Peter’s selfless contributions to the IRSE Younger Members section and support for anyone who wants to develop their knowledge of railway signalling, control and telecommunications. That support has not been limited to his company, region, or country, but has been truly international. I am not aware of any other individual who has given so much of their own time to selflessly promote the development of others in the Signalling and Control industry. He is always open to offer support, clear and informative in his sharing and is an inspiration to us all.“
“Peter's commitment to promoting IRSE Exam preparation and entry is second-to-none. His weekly IRSE Study Group runs for 11 months without fail. Not only is this available to Siemens staff, but other rail industry colleagues are welcome.
Throughout 2019 I was privileged to participate in the weekly IRSE Study Group which ultimately morphed into the IRSE Exam Group. For several years Peter has been running this group in Chippenham and online since joining Siemens. Each year the group majors on a specific exam module, increasingly becoming past paper focused. With multiple papers to mark every week, Peter spent many evenings with his blue (and often red!) pens at the ready.
In 2019 whilst exam candidates were from Siemens, the UK study group was joined remotely from Germany, India and China. In other years rail colleagues from outside Siemens were well represented, including Network Rail. Peter's long and varied working experience facilitates this cross-fertilization of rail contacts.
Not only does the weekly Study Group occur; Peter is also heavily involved in IRSE exam preparation workshops, some residential, which are held over different weekends for the various modules. This takes many hours of organization, agonizing over timetabling of workshop streams to match the attendees module choices with available presenters and facilities. The one I experienced first-hand ran like clockwork.
In the weeks leading up to the exam, Peter can be found volunteering many lunchtimes in one-to-one meetings with candidates wanting some extra tuition.
The somewhat laborious IRSE exam entry process is smoothed by Peter's constant reminders of application and payment deadlines etc. His support post-exam is no less visible: assisting appeals and attending the Exam Review to provide robust input to the feedback provided.
A highlight for the Study Group is a visit to the Swindon Panel Society in Didcot where Peter is a member. You discover how hard it is to signal trains through the routes between Chippenham, Swindon, Kemble and Didcot.
In summary, Peter is keen to share his wealth of experience, knowledge, and leisure activities to the benefit of anyone willing to learn.“
“I nominate and vote Peter Woodridge for the Rail staff Award due to his dedication in learning and development to all railway Signalling Engineers.
For so many years that Peter has given his commitment and dedication in sharing his knowledge and experience in railways signalling subject to everyone who needs his help. He continues to mentor and helping young Engineers to perceive the railways Signalling in all angles and different viewpoints, which make you realised the wealth and experience he is bringing to us all. He has always been there to help everyone to prepare for the IRSE professional Examinations throughout the years as far as I can remember and still continue to do so this year and I am sure for so many years to come. We are all, so grateful and thankful as he is doing all of this on his own personal time, which is incredible.
Peter Woodbridge has been an inspirational to all railways Signalling Engineers not only in the UK, but throughout the world. I have known many of the engineers from not only in the UK, but the following countries such as Singapore, India, China, Japan and Thailand, who have all expressed their gratitude and appreciation to Peter’s selfless contribution and guidance which contributed to the success of their professional careers in railways Signalling.
I feel that Peter deserves recognition for years of his selfless contribution to help others in the rail industry. We are (I am) so lucky and grateful to have known Peter throughout the years. He is hero for so many people and a very kind-hearted person, a friend, a colleague a father figure, a mentor, a teacher, a highly professional individual and a truly exceptional person who dedicate his own personal time to help others without wanting anything on returns. From me and many of my colleagues from London Underground, I thank you greatly.“
“I just wanted to send you an email to say thank you for inviting me to attend the 2014 RailStaff Awards Evening, I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening “ it was a great success. I do hope both you and the Team behind the event managed to enjoy the evening as much as me and my Network Rail colleagues (the feedback from other colleagues has been extremely positive so well done).”
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