Principal engineering experience, direct client access
Richard Hackney is a principal mechanical engineer with more than twenty years of experience delivering machinery, tooling and equipment across nuclear, defence, aerospace, automotive and advanced manufacturing environments — including sustained work on security-cleared UK defence and nuclear programmes. He established MyDiro to give manufacturers direct access to senior engineering judgement and a trusted technical network, without the complexity of appointing a large consultancy.
- 20+Years in mechanical design engineering
- PrincipalLed and delivered by a senior engineer
- 5Regulated and safety-critical sectors
More than twenty years solving difficult engineering problems
Richard has spent his career designing machinery, tooling and high-integrity equipment for environments where getting it right matters — where a design must not only work, but be shown to work. His recent focus has been the design and integration of specialist machine tools and handling equipment for highly controlled manufacturing environments, taking designs from requirements definition through substantiation and formal design review.
That work is built on two decades across safety-critical and regulated sectors: nuclear and defence, aerospace, automotive and advanced manufacturing. Regulated-sector experience is presented here at a high level; confidential, client-controlled and security-sensitive information is deliberately withheld.
The engineer who understands the problem should be the one you speak to
On many projects the engineer who genuinely understands the problem is separated from the client by layers of account management and hand-offs. MyDiro removes that distance. The principal who leads the work is the person you brief, the person who asks the awkward questions early, and the person accountable for the evidence at the end.
For medium-sized manufacturers and machine builders, that means senior engineering judgement without the overhead of a large consultancy — and a single, trusted point of contact who brings in specialist capability only when the work genuinely needs it.
“Every problem has a solution — the task is to be creative enough to find it, and rigorous enough to prove it.”
Good engineering is equal parts imagination and evidence. The approach is the same on every project: understand the real requirement before drawing anything, develop and compare honest options, and back the chosen route with calculations, analysis and clear documentation — so a decision can be defended in front of a customer, a reviewer or a regulator.
Deep mechanical capability, from first principles to formal review
The core disciplines Richard brings to every engagement, backed by specialists from the wider network when a project calls for them.
Design and definition
Requirements definition, technical specification and mechanical design of machine tools, tooling, fixtures, and lifting and handling equipment — from concept through detailed design.
Calculations and analysis
First-principles structural calculations to recognised standards (BS 2573, BS EN 13155) in Mathcad, and finite element analysis in ANSYS Mechanical and ABAQUS for design by analysis.
Safety and conformity
Machinery safety and design risk assessment, HAZOP and FMECA studies, safety classification, and UKCA and CE technical files and substantiation reports.
Documentation and review
Technical notes, basis of design, scheme design and substantiation documentation, prepared and taken through formal, controlled design review.
CAD, drafting and PLM
Siemens NX, CATIA V5 and Autodesk Inventor, with drafting and GD&T to ASME Y14.5, managed in Teamcenter and Vault Pro.
Technical leadership
Coordinating and mentoring multidisciplinary design teams, and presenting work at formal, multi-discipline design reviews.
Specialist capability, brought in when the work requires it
MyDiro is principal-led, but never limited to one pair of hands. A trusted network of specialists supplies additional finite element analysis, controls and electrical design, functional safety, fabrication, installation and testing capability when a project needs it. Richard defines the scope, coordinates the specialists and holds the technical thread — so the client keeps one accountable point of contact throughout.
Based in Staffordshire and working with manufacturers and machine builders across Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire and the wider Midlands. Remote collaboration and site visits by arrangement.
Want to talk through an engineering problem with the principal directly?
Share the problem, the current information and the outcome you need. Richard will identify the most appropriate first step.