Tom Watson MEng Civil Engineering with Architecture

AECOM

Hi, I'm Tom Watson and I studied MEng Civil Engineering with Architecture within Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton.

Southampton was a great place to study and its bars, shops and parks are well geared towards students. After my UCAS visit day I was immediately struck by how friendly the students and staff were and the relaxed attitude was refreshing. The sheer number of student societies and sports clubs was fantastic and made it really easy to try new things and meet new people.

Tell us about your current job

I started looking for a vacation job in my second year which is how I started working for AECOM. The vacation work was invaluable and really helped me to understand how real life engineers work. The experience also made it easier to make the jump to practicing engineer. I’m currently working on the initial structural design of two multi-million pound projects, a steel framed school and a large concrete framed hospital extension. I am enjoying it immensely and looking forward to the time when I can walk round the construction site and think “I designed this”.

What advice would you give to a student starting out on a Civil Engineering degree at Southampton?

The best advice I could give to someone just starting out at Southampton University is to get involved and make the most of the enormous range of sports clubs, societies and organisations - try out as many as you dare! You’ll never again have such a large choice of activities and opportunities on your doorstep.

What did you enjoy about the course?

The course turned out to be even more enjoyable and rewarding than I had expected. Whilst the combined tuition of the two different disciplines was at times hard to grasp, in group projects especially I really felt the architecture students had the edge, and were able to blend into the role of lead designer.

What’s Southampton like as a place to be a student?

Southampton was a great place to study and its bars, shops and parks are well geared towards students. After my UCAS visit day I was immediately struck by how friendly the students and staff were and the relaxed attitude was refreshing. The shear number of student societies and sports clubs was fantastic and made it really easy to try new things and meet new people.

Why did you choose Civil Engineering at Southampton?

I originally chose the Civil Engineering with Architecture course because I was interested in both the aesthetic and technical sides of buildings.