Guy King
- Course
- Mechanical Engineering MEng
- Subject area
- Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
After looking at various engineering disciplines, I settled on mechanical engineering for its broad range of applications and its wide spread recognition in industry. I attended the Loughborough University open day and fell in love with the campus, the genuinely kind and helpful staff and the overall atmosphere, along with its great reputation in industry.
When I was considering which university to go to, I felt that Loughborough put a lot of emphasis on practical, application-based learning, and I was not wrong. There are many projects and practical sessions throughout the degree that require you to apply the theory you have learnt in lectures and develop a more intuitive understanding of engineering topics.
As well as developing a huge toolbox of core engineering fundamentals, Loughborough really helped me develop my project working skills. I was given many opportunities to work with students from other engineering disciplines and more impressively, with engineers working in a range of companies, through several industry-based projects. This gave me a good foundation going into industry.
One of my favourite memories from my time at Loughborough was during my first year. We were tasked to design and build a catapult, which was laser cut from an A3 sheet of MDF. Each team had to compete in a range of tasks with their catapult, culminating in a final contest. This was a lot of fun and despite the fact that we did more in-depth projects in later years, the catapult is my fondest memory as it introduced me to how fun engineering is.
There are a range of facilities and equipment available within the School, and many staff members are more than happy to help and discuss a fun project with you, simply because they are interested. This encouraged me to work on fun projects outside of my degree and job and to have fun with engineering.
Loughborough encourages its students to undertake an industrial placement year, which I did at a coffee machine company. This gave me experience with electromechanical devices in a regulated industry. After my placement, I had the opportunity to select optional modules that would be more applicable to the type of role I was aiming for.
Currently, I am working as a mechanical engineer for CMR Surgical, a company developing a key-hole surgery robot. I first heard about CMR Surgical at Loughborough’s Careers Fair; this initial discussion led me to a successful application for a graduate role in the company. Having successfully secured the role, I am now part of the team developing, improving the performance of, and supporting the production of the robotic arm joints. My day-to-day work is very varied and draws on a lot of different skills from my degree.
One of the best things about this course is its emphasis on practical based project work and the industrial placement has helped me to apply my skills in industry more effectively. Additionally, the choice of a range of multi-disciplinary optional modules has allowed me to tailor my skillset to my target industry.