Uncle Frank · About

I'm Frank.

Programme Manager at Transport for London. MEng Civil Engineering. Ten years on UK projects. Nigerian-born. British-trained. Working towards CEng. Writing about the gap.

Why "Uncle Frank"?

In Nigerian and West African culture, the "uncle" is a specific archetype. Not necessarily blood family — but someone older who has been through it, who will tell you the truth without the corporate filter, who will sit with you and actually explain how things work.

That's what was missing when I started my career. I had lecturers who knew the theory. I had managers who were busy. I didn't have anyone who would sit down and say: here's what's actually happening, here's what you need to watch out for, here's what I wish I'd known.

So that's what I'm trying to be. Not a careers advisor. Not a motivational speaker. An uncle. Someone who's been on the sites, sat in the meetings, made the mistakes, and is willing to talk about all of it.

I cover ICE, IStructE, IMechE, IET, and IChemE — not just civil engineering. The gap exists across all disciplines.

The short version

2008
Started MEng Civil Engineering at Coventry University
2013
Graduated. First site job. Hard hat too big. Notebook too new.
2014
First real project — a road scheme in the Midlands. Learned more in six months than in five years of lectures.
2016
Moved to London. Started working on infrastructure projects at scale.
2018
Joined Transport for London. Programme management on major capital projects.
2021
Started mentoring graduate engineers informally. Realised the gap was bigger than I thought.
2023
Became a guest lecturer at Coventry University. Started writing publicly.
2025
Launched Uncle Frank. Still working at TfL. Still learning.

What I write about

From School to Real World Projects

The transition from education to employment is the biggest gap in UK engineering. I write about it because nobody else does.

The Real Talk

Mental health, imposter syndrome, money, racism in the industry. The things people say in private but not in public.

Engineering in the Real World

Project stories, lessons textbooks miss, and the things that actually matter on a live project.

The New Economy

AI, side hustles, financial literacy for engineers. The skills your degree didn't cover.

Winning Work

Bids, tenders, interviews, chartership. How to actually get the roles and projects you want.

We use essential cookies to keep the site working and analytics cookies to understand what's useful. Cookie policy