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The University of Southampton
Engineering

Rosalind Spink MEng Ship Science (yacht and small craft)

Naval Architect, London Offshore Consultants, London Longitude Engineering, Singapore

Rosalind Spink's Photo

Hi, I'm Rosalind Spink and I studied MEng Ship Science (yacht and small craft) within Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton.

Work hard at school and university; putting the hours in always pays off, but make sure you have a life outside of work too. Get some work experience and try different areas of the industry.

What do you do?

For the last seven months I have been working in London on shipping casualty and loss investigations. I have spent most of my time on investigations into causes of sinking or damage and effectiveness of salvage services, and also advising on ongoing salvage operations from a naval architecture perspective. For the next year I will be working for Longitude Engineering, a subsidiary of LOC, in Singapore. This will involve more design work, primarily on tanker conversions, as well as some of the shipping work I have been doing in London.

What's the best part of your job?

Working on successful salvage operations is really rewarding and being in London has been an excellent experience as it is the home of the majority of the major shipping insurers and marine law firms in the world. I also enjoy the travelling and am looking forward to going to Singapore and living by the sea again.

Why did you go into this career?

I grew up on the North Norfolk coast which led to my sailing background. I also have several family members in the marine and offshore industries. I chose ship science as it allowed me to combine my interest in boats with a challenging and rewarding degree in engineering.

What is your education/experience:

Up to age of 16: 9 GCSEs at Dame Alice Owen's School in Potters Bar.; After 16: three A levels in maths, physics and physical education followed by a gap year travelling and working as a sailing instructor. I then went to Southampton for the MEng in Ship Science. During this time I also gained some work experience at the RNLI in Poole, with a local boat builder in Norfolk and with Perenco Oil and Gas in London.

Any advice on getting the first job?

I decided to stay away from the structured graduate schemes for engineers just because I wanted to have a bit more input into where I would be working and the type of work I would be doing. However, this does mean that I have to take more responsibility for managing my professional development and eventually becoming chartered. I also wanted to move to London to be a bit closer to Norfolk. I sent my CV to several different companies in the London area and eventually chose LOC because of the exciting nature of the work they offered.

How do I get to do your job?

Work hard at school and university; putting the hours in always pays off, but make sure you have a life outside of work too. Get some work experience and try different areas of the industry. In engineering, maths and physics will always be important but in my line of work written English is just as important for preparing expert reports etc so don't let that slip after GCSEs.

What is your advice to potential students?

Work hard but definitely play hard as well.

What are your hobbies?

Sailing, hockey and enjoying the social life that goes with both.

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