I chose Loughborough because it is a calm place to get work done and provides everything for a comfortable stay. The course contained modules that perfectly fit my interests and experiences so far, as it combined my technical experiences from my undergraduate studies with new IT skills I recently started developing. In addition, the course gives me a more expanded view of the sector, especially with the management modules that go in-depth in encouraging sustainability across the board.
I completed my undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering (BEng) from Lancaster University. Thereafter I took a year out to work in the IT industry, before coming to Loughborough to complete my master’s.
I have always intended to acquire a master’s degree, and this was motivated by wanting to be a professional in my chosen career. A master’s degree promised an opportunity to apply and go deeper into the knowledge I had previously acquired in Chemical Engineering.
The programme opens you up to better understand the usefulness of the gained technical knowledge. A piece of good advice is to be open-minded to appreciate how these modules are linked to each other. In addition, refreshing some researching skills and report or essay writing would come in handy.
An average day would involve keeping track of my timetable and preparing my laptop and myself for the lectures of the day. A roughly average day would be between three to four hours of lectures split between a maximum of three modules. Between my breaks, I find time to engage with materials for future lectures or find myself engaging with coursework to be submitted. The course itself is more coursework/research-oriented, however the few exams we have been scheduled for the latter part of each semester.
It is nice to be in a top 10 university that encourages career prospects. In some modules, professionals from industry give talks and lectures, and it helps us to apply the theory and research carried out in our studies to real-life scenarios. Some modules also use problems directly from neighbouring companies, which are used as a case study in lectures.
Loughborough has excellent facilities on its huge real estate. I have visited and used the laboratory a couple of times and was not disappointed. Although the pandemic has changed the format of teaching and learning, the experience of learning primarily virtually has been seamless with Microsoft Teams technology utilised to facilitate this.
Feedback has been timely with the opportunity to interact or ask questions via Teams or directly messaging lecturers via Outlook. It is convenient to be able to refer to recorded lectures afterwards.
I have received academic advice and guidance, especially from my project supervisor. I have easy access to my supervisor and a PhD student too, who both have recent and directly relevant papers in my area of research. We have a good rapport, and he checks up on my progress occasionally.
Gaining better modelling and optimisation skills has to be my greatest achievement. In addition, is generally improving my study skills and personal development.