Kush Patel MEng Civil Engineering
Third year student
Southampton is great, there’s lots of academic support from your lecturers and peers whilst also having quite friendly seniors to help you and guide you through your work if required. We have leading lecturers working on real life challenges meaning that for your projects you have the opportunity to work on current problems.
Why I chose to come and study at Southampton
I came to study Civil Engineering at Southampton as the course teaches theory as well as creating practical engineers. To me, engineering practically with the ability to analyse critically situations was of paramount importance. This trains you up for a future career in civil engineering, should you choose not to pursue a career in civil engineering it is a very transferrable skill.
I also chose to come to Southampton as it provides an accredited course with the IstructE and ICE giving pathways to chartership. It was also high up on the league tables improving my chance of employment.
How I have found the study facilities at the University
The study facilities for Engineering students are excellent, we have the whole Bolderwood Innovation Campus with some state of the art pieces of equipment. The library is also open 24 hours throughout the majority of term time allowing you to make use of it any time of the day. The outdoor sports facilities at Wide Lane are also quite good.
My Southampton highlights so far
My best highlights of Southampton have been joining as many societies as I could! I am currently Vice President of the Hindu Society, I am the treasurer for SKBD (a classical Asian dance group), I dance for SKBD and I play university hockey!
Another great highlight was the Constructionarium, which Civil engineering students go to in their first year. It was a great opportunity to bond with everyone in the year and have fun before exams!
What I enjoy most about my course
I enjoy the practical aspects of the course especially well. Applying the theory of what has been learnt to real life problems, just as you would in industry is quite interesting.
My experiences of University accommodation
I stayed in university accommodation in my first year. It was a great experience where I gained independence whilst being in a supportive environment where everyone else was going through the same situation. We formed some great bonds and became more than just friends.
What Southampton is like as a city
The nightlife is amazing! From the messy night at Jesters nightclub or a huge club like Oceana to classy bars, Southampton has it all!
Overall safety in and around Southampton is great, there are great facilities such as the safety bus to get you home at night whatever your state.
One of the best things about Southampton is that it has the city vibe but isn’t huge like London, everything is in walking distance.
My experiences of the Civil Engineering Success Scheme.
The Success Scheme has allowed me to apply my University learning to real life projects!
It is a great scheme giving industrial experience without taking a solid year in between studies and improved my job prospects.
With my sponsor Tony Gee - A Civil Engineering Consultancy, I have worked on many projects in the Structures and Rail Groups giving me a lot of experience. As part of the projects you get to do calculations and design things that actually are built! All this has not only given me practical experience and been enjoyable but has allowed me to already start ticking off objectives for Chartership before I've even left University!
I have thoroughly enjoyed my experiences so far and can't wait for the next Summer where I get to go back and apply more of my knowledge.