The teaching, facilities and support
All the lecturers in the Department of Materials were amazing, their passion for their subjects made them always eager to help with any questions. Simon Hogg (my project supervisor) always went out of his way to work with me on the project and run me through things I needed some extra help on.The materials lab in S-Building in particular had some state-of-the-art equipment which made the research scope for the Part C project that much wider. Special mention to the STEMLab technicians, I spent a lot of time in STEMLab for my project and the amount of help I got from Micheal made a huge difference.
When I saw what my lecturers had achieved in their careers, I knew I wanted to do something similar. All of the opportunities that they had worked on, I knew that I wanted to be able to look back on my career and rattle off a list of achievements like the teaching staff.
I struggled a little during my placement year and the department went out of their way to help me complete my placement and obtain the qualification. Without that I doubt I would have the job that I have now. The support I received during my project helped me specialise in aluminium and its alloys, which in turn helped me get my graduate job as they were specifically looking for someone who had aluminium knowledge.