Erin Meredith

Having the opportunity to see the facilities, talk to professors and lecturers and meet current students was invaluable, and helped a lot with my decision. I also learned more about what I would be doing whilst studying Chemical Engineering and the opportunities available. The course also has a great reputation in industry, so it was an easy decision to come to Loughborough!

I was lucky to see a lot of investment going into the facilities during my five years at Loughborough, including the new computer lab, West Park and STEMLab. As the facilities improved, it made the learning environment so much more comfortable, especially with the introduction of West Park, as this meant the addition of more lecture halls on the Engineering side of campus. The new computer lab also meant we saw an increase in computer-based workshops which were a brilliant asset to course learning.

Throughout my entire time at Loughborough, I held a very high opinion of the quality of teaching from my professors and lecturers. Many of them had both academic and industrial experience, which meant they could really explain the applications of what we were learning in industrial situations. Every lecturer I had was always willing to answer questions and provide support through group and individual tutorials, which was extremely helpful throughout term time and during revision periods.

Both roles were challenging but immensely rewarding, and I was able to directly apply theoretical and practical engineering skills to the work I was doing that I had gained from my degree at Loughborough.

As of November 2020, I am currently working as a Technologist (like a Process Engineer) within a platform-aligned technical team. The work I do in this role is varied, which makes every day interesting. Some of the work I get involved with includes supporting and implementing continuous improvement projects in Production, process validation for new equipment and authoring technical reports. This means I have a great mix of projects which allow me to hone my Chemical Engineering skills, all whilst working within varied teams and being accountable for change.

So far I’ve been lucky, as the roles I’ve mentioned are part of the graduate programme I’m participating in, but there were lots of opportunities that  I took advantage of whilst I was at university, which meant I was developing skills outside of my degree ahead of applying for graduate roles in my final year. For example, I completed an industrial placement year between Part B and Part C, which I undertook at another pharmaceutical company. This helped me to decide that I wanted to pursue a career in pharma, and I could see the practical applications of what I was learning in my lectures. I also carried out my Professional Development Project in Part C at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, which was focused on Rheology, as I had an interest in biochemical based modules.

Additionally, I was the Department of Chemical Engineering Chair in Part B, and Vice Chair of a society during my final year, which helped me to develop my teamwork, interpersonal and organisational skills outside of lecture time.