Three students from Queen Mary University of London have been awarded an Engineering Horizons Bursary from The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
The bursaries are given to students who are passionate about engineering and have taken up a place on an engineering or technology degree course which has been accredited by the IET.
They have been awarded to:
In this second year of the scheme, 75 bursaries have been awarded to students and apprentices around the country. The scheme helps students entering an apprenticeship or an engineering degree programme, who have qualifications such as a BTEC, HND, Access to Higher Education Diploma or other vocational qualification, as well as those in challenging circumstances.
The sponsorship will be £1,000 a year for up to four years and winners also benefit from mentoring and work experience placements through the IET’s extensive networks.
Electrical and Electronic Engineering student Nusaybah Alexander said since the approval of her application she is in the process of starting a weekly STEM club at a local secondary school, and has committed to long term volunteering at Community by Design (LEAP) to apply practical electronic and electrical skills to sustainable energy. Without the bursary, she says she would not be able to make these commitments.
“The bursary will serve as a buffer which will allow me to both indulge in my STEM related volunteering, robotics and recuperate and study during exam season,” she said. “I am generally very excited about my future and I can’t wait to make a lasting contribution to technology using my degree.”
Dilani Selvanathan is enrolled on a software engineering degree apprenticeship which includes working with the BBC D&E (Design and Engineering) News and Weather team while studying for a Digital and Technology Solutions BSc from Queen Mary.
Dilani, who also holds a second Dan black belt in Taekwondo, said: “Once I’ve completed my degree I plan to become a Chartered Engineer with support from a bursary from the Institute of Engineering Technology. I really enjoy the practical side of engineering, so I want to get into electronic engineering and robotics.”
Calvin Cheng is an Electrical and Electronic Engineering student in his second year. He said: “This bursary will allow me to focus on my studies more as London is very expensive in terms of quality of life. I currently have a part time job where I work almost 30 hours a week to make amends in terms of living to study in university, so this will help a lot, as well as allowing me to buy resources for my course.
“My ambition would be to join a graduate scheme at Siemens or something similar like that, I would like a job in business management or project management in a prestigious firm and hopefully in the future would like to bring up my own company.”
The IET Engineering Horizons Bursary programme is open to all UK students who are applying to join an IET accredited engineering or technology degree course, or are already studying on a course (except final year students).
Professor Simon Lucas, Head of the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at Queen Mary, said: “We are thrilled that three of our talented students from EECS have been awarded the Engineering Horizons Bursary which will help support them during their degree program and enable their passion for engineering to flourish while studying with us.
“We hope that the scheme will continue to benefit our students in the future and that this year encourages others to apply for this great opportunity.”
For more information head to www.theiet.org/horizons.
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