Posted in: Articles
On his 5th anniversary at Monitor Audio Group, we sit down with Acoustic Engineering Manager Peter Harrison to discuss his five years with the company.
Joined: 2020
Department: Acoustic Design
Job Title: Acoustic Engineering Manager
What initially drew you to join the company, and what has kept you here?
I was initially drawn to the company due to the breadth of the product offerings; my previous experience was in active loudspeakers, but I wanted to broaden my knowledge of the field. Monitor Audio Group seemed like the ideal place to do this and has proven to be so, allowing me to work on projects as varied as custom install (Creator Series), streaming amplifiers (Caspian Series 4G), and of course traditional HiFi (Platinum Series 3G).
What’s one project you’re most proud of contributing to over the years?
I would have to say that there are actually two projects that have been my favourites, each at completely opposite ends of the scale. On the micro scale would be the development of the MPD III tweeter used in Hyphn (and subsequently Platinum Series 3G and Gold Series 6G); this project required the application of all of my engineering knowledge up to that point! On the macro scale would be the development of Creator Series; this was an absolute beast of a project in terms of sheer number of models and complexity!
How has your role evolved since you joined us?
I first joined as an Acoustic Engineer, and it wasn’t too long before there were products in the market which I had played a role in designing. This meant that when we had the opportunity to grow the team I was in a position to mentor and impart this knowledge to new engineers, so that they could also enjoy the feeling of seeing a product in a shop and being able to say “I designed that”. I now have the privilege of managing a team of excellent acoustic engineers with a wide range of experience and knowledge, which allows us to develop some of the very best products in the market.
What’s a valuable lesson you’ve learned during your time here?
Things will go wrong; it’s how you respond to the setbacks that makes the engineer.
What advice would you give your first-day self if you could go back?
Sometimes (or rather always) perfection isn’t possible, but the value added by good engineering is worth more than any cost.
If you could sum up your time here in one word, what would it be?
Innovative.