The facilities have allowed me to work in environments I have not had the opportunity to work in before which was one main thing that attracted me to the course. I've had the opportunity to use specialist high-tech equipment for my research project which is great.
Why I chose to study Biomedical Engineering MSc at Loughborough
I chose Loughborough because it is renowned for its engineering facilities and performs very well on all the university league tables. The campus has everything you would need, and the staff were very welcoming on the open days.
If a mixture of theory and lab-based work is what you are wishing to do, this course is great. It combines engineering with medicine and teaches you how theory-based knowledge can be applied to real-life problems.
The facilities and community at Loughborough
The facilities have allowed me to work in environments I have not had the opportunity to work in before for my undergrad, for example, the cell culturing and bio labs within the STEMlab building. In these labs, I have been taught how to culture bacteria as well as different methods of colony isolation. After these lab sessions, we produced bacteriophages specific to the bacteria strains and learnt about the amplification techniques which can be used in industry to scale-up the phage production. The labs also refreshed my knowledge of lab safety which will be necessary to remember for my future career.
I have the chance to use specialist high-tech equipment for my MSc project which I have not used before; these include spray dryers and freeze dryers which will be used for encapsulating bacteriophage formulations to treat soft tissue and wound infections.
Loughborough’s sporting community has inspired me to become more active and productively use my days on campus. The modern spaces available for students to work in have motivated me to do additional work around my module content including additional reading of published literature and using Loughborough’s LEARN system to find supporting information which has been recommended by my lecturers to read through.
Teaching and support
My project supervisor has been able to assist me with any queries about my project or any other modules. All my lecturers have been approachable and respond almost instantly to any questions I have emailed them with.
My research project
My project is ‘developing phage formulations for treating soft tissue and wound infections’. I chose this research topic because it follows on from what we have been taught in the lab sessions and I found the subject matter very intriguing. I wanted to do a lab-based project so that I could further improve my lab skills and become more confident in working in an environment that I may end up working in in the future.
My research could aid in the creation of antibiotic-free wound treatment. This could have the potential to make a huge impact worldwide as the rise in antibiotic resistance is currently costing healthcare systems a great deal of money (due to additional treatment costs) and ultimately, leading to many deaths also as a result of worsening infections.
My greatest achievements and future plans
At Loughborough so far, my greatest achievement has been working alongside my peers to produce successful coursework. These required a lot of time management as many deadlines fell within the same period of the first term.
My group coursework included various reports as well as a presentation in which I achieved mostly merits and distinctions. All of these required appropriate task delegation as well as a collaborative effort from all peers to produce work of high quality.
A piece of coursework so far that stands out was an individual sensors report which I wrote and gained 90% in. This was based on a practical lab that was carried out using cyclic voltammetry to find the unknown concentration of paracetamol in a solution. This lab taught me many new skills as I had not previously studied any electrochemistry.
I am not completely sure of the career path I wish to take but completing my master’s degree will open many doors for me and give me an insight into which biomedical field I find most interesting.