Alasdair Gerrard MEng Aeronautics and Astronautics / Semester Abroad
Southampton’s course places an emphasis on becoming a strong all-round engineer, teaching both the rigorous theoretical knowledge and application of practical skills necessary within industry, through multiple hands-on projects in the degree.
Why did you choose to study at the University of Southampton?
There are a number of factors that I considered when choosing my university. Firstly, the University of Southampton has a fantastic reputation for engineering, especially with respect to aerospace as it is consistently ranked highly according to many league tables and (arguably more importantly) the employability of students after graduation is very high.
Secondly, the course itself looked ideal, placing an emphasis on becoming a strong all-round engineer, offering both the rigorous theoretical knowledge and application of practical skills necessary within industry through multiple hands-on projects in the degree. After researching the module content, I concluded that it looked like a very interesting and challenging course, with many topics that I was excited to learn about.
Finally, when I came to an Open Day the staff and students all seemed engaging and very interested in what they were doing at the University, without trying to sound too cliché; the university just ‘felt’ right for me.
How has your Foundation Year helped you within your current course?
The Foundation Year helped me to fill the gap in my knowledge due to my lack of A-level physics. This knowledge has been a vital part of my degree; without it I would have struggled to understand and keep up to date with the information that I have subsequently received in my degree. It also helped me to transition to university life and improve my study habits early on in my degree.
What do you enjoy most about living in Southampton?
Southampton is a great place to live, especially as a student. There are plenty of things to do with over 200 societies available to join, an active nightlife, with relatively cheap drinks and various music venues/clubs, and good transport links to places such as the New Forest and Bournemouth. A good work-life balance is achievable as a student (as long as you remember to put time into studying!) and the opportunity to get involved with extra-curricular activities is vast at Southampton.
Why did you choose to study your course?
I have always been interested in both mathematics and science, particularly when it came to aviation and space, so studying these subjects as a degree seemed to be a logical progression for my education.
As mentioned above, after researching the module content I decided that the course looked very interesting with a lot of topics that I was interested in learning about.
Further to this, once I graduate I am very interested in following a career in the spacecraft engineering field, Southampton is one of the only places to offer a specific spaceflight Masters course, in which I will be studying a variety of modules in my final year. This will be very useful as it will show employers that I have specific knowledge in the field of spacecraft engineering, potentially giving me an edge over other candidates.
How did the University support you in organising your semester abroad?
The University were very helpful in organising my semester abroad. Initially there is a list of various universities that the university currently has links with (when I applied there were about 5 current universities listed for aerospace with others available for other engineering branches). These institutions have been chosen by the University as they offer the same high standard of education that Southampton has.
Once the initial internal applications were complete (applying within the University to be allowed to participate in the exchange, as there are a limited number of spaces) I was helped by the International Office with things such as the official application to my chosen institution and getting transcripts. There was nothing particularly challenging about the application process as I received a wealth of information from the International Office before and during my application. There were also some mandatory ‘pre-departure lectures’ which gave an insight as to what to expect from studying abroad and it allowed me to meet the other people coming to the same university in the following semester.
Where did you go for your semester abroad and what did you enjoy most about it?
I studied a minor in spaceflight for six months at TU Delft’s aerospace department in the Netherlands. Moving to an entirely new country and meeting new people from all over the world (I lived in international student halls with 24 students per floor!) was a particular highlight for me. I lived with people from almost every continent in the world, something that I had never experienced previously studying in my home country and made some amazing friends! It was essentially like moving to university in first year all over again, which is arguably one of the most exciting parts of student life! On top of meeting these fantastic people I highly enjoyed the content I was studying. I had specifically chosen the spaceflight minor to gain more knowledge and experience in space engineering and was not disappointed by the course itself.
How did you find the experience of studying abroad? What were your lecturers like?
The lecturers at TU Delft were all very enthusiastic about their given subjects, all were experts in their field undertaking industry leading research. They were very passionate about passing on their specialist knowledge to students which I found was shown through the quality of the education I received, covering a lot of material from basics to advanced subjects in a short period of time.
Most of the lecturers who taught the modules had worked for or with large space companies such as ESA, so they knew the standard of knowledge that the industry requires from the next generation of students and it was very interesting to be taught by them.
The lecturers were always available if students had and questions, there were multiple ways to contact them such as via an online forum for that specific subject (this was my most preferred this way of communication as other students with similar issues could view the question and subsequent response), via email, speaking them post lecture or organising a meeting in their office.
If you could offer students considering a semester abroad one piece of advice, what would it be?
I would fully encourage students to seize the opportunity and apply for a semester abroad. While you’re there really make the most of it - I wish I had realised this before I moved abroad. Things such as taking trips to nearby cities and staying overnight in a hostel never occurred to me whilst I was in the UK! As a student you only have a short period of time (three or four years really isn’t long in the grand scheme of things!) in which you’re at university. This is a time where you have the freedom to get involved in many activities for a fraction of the price you would normally pay! For many students, the opportunity to study abroad (myself included) is not something that ever crosses their mind as it seems far-fetched or just unfeasible. Looking back on my decision to study abroad I am very pleased that I had the opportunity to study in the Netherlands for 6 months, it was a fantastic experience to be out of my home country and has widened my perspective on life by forcing me to interact with many people from all over the world.