Graeme Taylor MEng Space Systems Engineering
Hi, I'm Graeme Taylor and I studied MEng Space Systems Engineering within Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton.
Coming to Southampton allowed me to study my passion straight away without have to first take a more generic engineering course and then specialising at the Masters level.
Studying MEng Space Systems Engineering has been a dream come true for Graeme Taylor, who is now in his fourth year.
"Spaceflight has been my passion since a young age, with the cliché childhood dream of becoming an astronaut transforming into the slightly more realistic one of working as engineer in the human spaceflight industry," he explains. "Ultimately I believe this course will offer me a solid base from which to pursue a career in this highly competitive industry." He chose the course at Southampton because he could start studying the subject straightaway within a high quality university engineering environment.
Graeme enjoys the practical nature of the degree: "We don't build equipment for space craft in the first year but, from day one, everything you learn, including some quite abstract concepts and mathematical tools, are related back to ‘real world' applications.
"One of our group project modules culminated in designing a spacecraft from the ground up on an international field trip to Tenerife. Unfortunately, you don't get to see much of the sun, working 12 hour days at the University of La Laguna, but there is always the second week off for that."
In his spare time, Graeme has been a member of several university societies: "I've tried everything from mountain biking, skydiving, hill walking and scuba diving to ballroom dancing. Really, for everything you could want to do; there are some likeminded individuals to share it with. They are always encouraging to help you try out something new."
He has this advice for potential space scientists. "It might be an obvious statement, but make sure you choose this degree because it is what you want to do, not because you just want to experience university life, as i t is not an easy course. We have had many long nights in computer rooms working on group projects, and even longer ones in the library revising for exams.
"Sometimes you question why you are doing it, and it is at that point you need to be able to remind yourself why you love the subject. However, it is a very fulfilling area to study, especially towards the latter years when you realise you are actually working on designing real spacecraft. And you can always make time to have fun as well, who needs sleep really anyway?"