I had gone to several universities for open days and Loughborough was by far the most appealing to me. I knew I wanted to do some kind of engineering and after having read the book ‘Stuff Matters’ by Mark Miodownik, I narrowed that down to a materials course. I have always been interesting in cars and racing, so knowing that Loughborough offered a materials course was important to me.
At the Open Day, I attended a materials course introduction lecture by Prof Gary Critchlow. He brought a Formula 1 car nose cone to this lecture to demonstrate the things that you could do with studying materials. Being somewhat of motorsport nerd this rather swung the deal for me!
My course
The course content was very varied, with some modules being joined with other courses. The ability to specialise your course after the first year (materials science for year 1, and then a choice of either further, aeronautical or automotive materials for the rest of the course) was very unique. It gave you the chance to have an introduction to the course before you made any major decisions about where to specialise. The Department of Materials also had a lot of contacts with companies for placement years which improved both the application and the choice of placement.
I really enjoyed the CAD (computer aided design) module in first year. The mixture between practical content (i.e making the designs) and theoretical information (i.e understanding engineering drawings) made the module really engaging. I spend a lot of time working with engineering drawings at my graduate job, so being able to understand them has proved invaluable.
I would also like the mention the Part C project module. While writing a dissertation was obviously stressful, the freedom to work with a supervising lecturer and conduct my own experiments in the lab was one of my favourite times at uni. It was my first time running/managing a project and I ended up receiving the John Goodwin Memorial Prize for the highest project marks in my course. I knew I had put a lot of effort into it but for that to be officially recognised with an award was amazing. The project management skills also gained from this certainly help me manage the failure investigation projects that I work on now.
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.
My future career
I am currently working with a senior metallurgist with over 40 years of experience. He has just about every qualification under the sun and I would love to be in his position some day. The degree that I have opened the right doors for me to get the job in the first place, and taught me the relevant skills to progress in my career. When I was hired, I was told that theory wise I am only at the very start of what there is to know. However, one of the reasons I was hired is that getting a degree teaches you how to research and how to learn, which is arguably more important than what you actually know. So my Loughborough degree has given me the skills that I need to think outside the box, research where I need to to fill the gaps in my knowledge, and how to ask questions when I am not sure on things. My job strongly relies on accuracy, if you are not sure you cannot just guess or you might pass something that should have failed. So, being able to research and seek guidance is invaluable for this.
My advice to anyone thinking about studying this course at Loughborough is to be open minded with your optional choices. The mutual first year of the course really helps with this as it lets you find your feet before you commit to anything, so use this time to find out what you enjoy. Of course, what you learn at uni is key to a career, but you will learn so much throughout your career that you can afford to spend some of your time at uni just figuring out what it is that you enjoy. There are so many optional modules that you can tailor your course to what it is you want to learn. Another thing I would say is ask all the questions you can. The materials department is full of passionate people with massive brains who specialise in almost everything, so make the most of this. You get to spend 3/4 years in the biggest collective of brain power there is so make the most of it!