My Aspirations To Become A Civil Engineer

Civil engineering is fundamental to the world around us and underpins a modern society. As an Arkwright scholar I am very proud to be recognized as a future leader in engineering and when I become a civil engineer I will be able to play a role in shaping the world around us. My scholarship funded a 4 day Smallpiece Trust Naval Architecture course, which I chose because I was curious to explore how architecture could be applied to the design of naval vessels. During the course I worked efficiently leading a team of five to design and build a scale landing craft within specified parameters, a tight budget and time restrictions. I used a combination of leadership and teamwork skills to organize production of what was judged the best vessel, adapting the design after the testing phase. My chosen Arkwright sponsor is the Nuclear Institute. With little prior knowledge of the nuclear industry I undertook a MOOC in ‘The Science of Nuclear Energy’ to get the most out of my opportunity. A visit to my sponsor at the Office of Nuclear Regulation showed me how a wide range of engineering disciplines can be applied in a specialist field. One project I looked at involved a chimney at Sellafield nuclear power station being taken down using a complex system of moving scaffolding and pulleys.

This summer I undertook civil engineering work experience at Caulmert, reaffirming my wish to be an engineer. As part of my work experience I partook in a site visit to look at drainage issues between two sites where one business had caused the neighboring one to flood. I used technical knowledge gained from my work experience along with communications skills to find a solution that worked for all parties. This has shown me that it is not just the engineering theory that I enjoy, but also the opportunity to visit sites and see the problems first hand. I also enjoyed doing work experience at a structural engineering firm where I was inspired by a project designing an extension to a paper recycling plant that had to withstand hard impacts from reversing tipper lorries. This showed me Completing a MOOC in ‘Modern Building Design’ confirmed that my interests lie in civil engineering. I particularly enjoyed learning about Building Information Modeling and hope that this might be something that I can use in the future as I believe it will play more of a role as technology advances. I wanted to learn more about this, so I completed another MOOC – ‘The Importance of Building Information Modeling’ to gain further understanding.

Reading an article on … lead me to … as we are under increasing pressure to build more with fewer resources, leading to ever more complex projects. I believe it is vital to engineer not just for the current generation but for upcoming generations as part of a sustainable future. ‘Global issues in the construction industry’.

I believe my mix of a level subjects has given me the skills required to study as an engineer. My maths and physics has given me technical knowledge and problem-solving skills essential to be an engineer. My D.T. product design A level has given me CAD skills that were essential in my work experience at Caulmert when I had to produce multiple engineering drawings and believe will find useful at university.

I have several hobbies that keep me busy in my spare time and have helped me develop as a person. Individually I race mountain bikes where I must perform under time pressure on testing downhill sections requiring intense focus. As well as taking part in racing I help build bike trails where I have to consider how different soil types will work together for riders to maintain grip. I also enjoy playing hockey where I captained my team to the U18 Northern final, on the way motivating my teammates to come back from behind and win. My sports involvement means I have learned to manage my time effectively and will help me to fit into university life.

Work experience at Maxton Engineering, motorbike specialists, gave me exposure to mechanical engineering when I looked at the design of motorbike suspension. The experience was valuable, not least in confirming my instinct that civil engineering is more for me as I prefer designing things greater in size.