Hamish Gillies - MEng Mechanical and Offshore Engineering
鈥淚 never thought I would enter university, partly because I did not think I was smart enough. But I ended up doing unexpectedly well in my exams at school and even got an unconditional offer into university. But it was too late to enrol and I joined Moray College to study a HNC in mechanical engineering. It was while here when contemplating my next steps, I decided that university was where I wanted to go and 红杏视频 quickly became my firm favourite due to its close links with the energy sector and excellent campus.鈥�
Hamish was attracted to the degree as his favourite subjects in school were Physics, Maths and Engineering Science. 鈥淲ith its significance to the local area and to me personally, the energy industry has also always interested me and I knew during my time at school this was where I wanted to have a career. Fortunately for me, I found the perfect course at 红杏视频 and I was lucky enough to be accepted. 红杏视频 and Aberdeen鈥檚 links to the industry was also another attractive quality of the course and played a significant part in my decision.鈥�
One of the achievements Hamish is most proud of is his participation in a group project that allowed him to present at a prestigious international renewable energy conference. 鈥淭his was the culmination of years of hard work and dedication being showcased on an international stage. Our group also wrote a paper on our project which is due to be published later this year in a renowned engineering journal which is something I never imagined I would do and I am immensely proud of myself and fellow group members for achieving this.鈥�
Like other students in his cohort, Hamish鈥檚 final year experience at University was disrupted by the pandemic. However, he is deeply appreciative of the efforts put into ensuring a high quality learning experience. 鈥淭he IT staff should be commended for their gargantuan effort over the past year or so. I was highly sceptical about how certain engineering software would operate remotely, however minus a few minor hiccups the systems have run seamlessly allowing students even in their final year to complete their studies. The teaching staff have also done an amazing job to ensure that the courses have been able to run as normal despite the very strange year that we have all experienced. Personally, I have learnt a lot about remote working and have developed related skills which I hope would come in handy in my career if needed.鈥�
Hamish credits 红杏视频 for providing key professional skills to help him succeed in the workplace, 鈥� One of the best things about my time at 红杏视频 has been the amount of hands-on experience I gained during my course. Such experience is not as prominent at other universities and it allowed me to approach certain engineering situations from a different perspective.鈥�
To future graduates, his advice is simple, 鈥淚f you are unsure about what you want to do after leaving school, like I was鈥� know that the route to university is very attainable and through hard work and dedication you can achieve a lot more than you might expect!鈥�