I'm Greg and I'm a former MSc. student at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, where I studied Advanced Structural Engineering in 2015/2016. I studied Civil Engineering at the National University of Ireland, Galway and graduated in 2012 before emigrating to Vancouver, Canada for work and travel. I spent over 2 years there working as a Bridge EIT before starting the MSc. in London. I now work as a Graduate Engineer with AECOM in London. I'm a big fan of travelling and also enjoy scuba diving, skiing and hiking.
Why did you choose to do your MSc with us?
One of the main reasons I chose to study at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø was due to its fantastic reputation for Structural Engineering. I knew quite a number of people including friends, family and former classmates who had studied at the university and had nothing but good things to say about it. Having completed my year there I can really understand the praise that it is given. The facilities are very good and the support given to students is great, it really is a place I'm proud to have studied at. I wanted to get a very broad understanding of structural engineering which is why I decided not to pursue any of the more refined clusters such as Earthquake Engineering. An added bonus for me when choosing 51³Ô¹ÏÍø was the opportunity to spend time in London, which is a fantastic city.
How did you find the first year?
I really enjoyed it, it was a great year. I feel much more comfortable understanding structural engineering concepts now. It's a very intense course and there is tons of material to study, so I would definitely recommend that students begin studying as soon as possible. Many of the subjects are quite maths intensive so it’s crucial that students have a very good understanding of engineering mathematics. Probably the most important thing I learned during my time there was how to deal with time management, there just wasn’t enough time to do everything so I found it was important to prioritise what I really wanted and needed to do.
What would you have done differently?
Our second semester began the day after we finished our first semester exams. I continued working from then until the end of our second semester without taking any major breaks, so I found myself very fatigued by April / May. If I could turn back the clock I would have taken a longer break between our final lecture and the start of our exams for that semester.
What did a typical week look like for you?
Most of my first two semesters was spent going to lectures (which typically last 2 hours with a 1 hour tutorial afterwards), doing coursework and revising for exams. We only had 6 lectures a week so there was quite a lot of free time for external work. For my final semester I did a detailed bridge design project, which was great as we got to put the skills we'd been learning over the year to the test. I still found some time to exercise and to go for a few drinks on the weekend which was important to keep me in a good frame of mind.
What are you doing now?
I work as a Graduate Engineer with AECOM in London and am enjoying it. I deifinitely feel that my Msc. has put me in a position to succeed in the future and would strongly recommend any prospective students to apply.