Kickstart a career with Greenwich
The University of Greenwich is proud to offer many opportunities for students to boost their employability skills and get a head start in industry. The university has an excellent Employability and Careers Service that provides support to students to find employment, placements or develop skills. The School of Engineering has great links with big employers, including BB7, an advisory firm founded by highly successful University of Greenwich School of Engineering alum Ben Bradford, and RSK Group, who visited the Medway Campus to speak to students about placements, opportunities and industry.
Meanwhile, the university’s partnership with construction and engineering business Kilnbridge led to a #GreHacks event, where selected students had the chance to showcase key skills by solving workplace challenges set by the company. It was at this event that challenge winner MSc Civil Engineering student Aleena Mathew – studying for her second Master’s degree – impressed the company to secure the coveted internship on offer with them.
Students can also undertake placement years to gain a year’s worth of valuable experience within a workplace. The university offers MSc programmes that come with a year of Industrial Practice, but students can also opt to undertake a placement year as part of an undergraduate degree. BEng Civil Engineering student Samip Rai recently won the CECA Southern Award for Most Promising Industrial Placement Student.
Greenwich creates entrepreneurs
Many of our students have developed creative visions and inventions during their final year projects, where they are able to research an area of their field that interests them and have taken these creations forward to local and national competitions. Final year BEng Mechanical Engineering students found success in this year’s prestigious Enterprise Challenge, where entrepreneurial-minded students of the university have the chance to win up to £5000 for their visions. Dinul Wijetunge won the Engineers in Business Award 2022 for his portable air conditioning fan, while Bruno Gocan and his team THEIAXP were named finalists in the social category for their image processing project that will assist medical professionals to diagnose lung cancer. THEIAXP went on to compete in the national Mayor’s Entrepreneur Competition, a competition the university advocates for.
Have fun while developing skills
Aside from opportunities to develop professionally, School of Engineering students are encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and take up opportunities for personal growth. In April 2022, postgraduate students visited Coniston in the Lake District with staff in a team-building trip to network, overcome new challenges, develop and hone transferable skills and grow in confidence through participating in activities such as canoeing, orienteering and more. Professor Phil Cox, Head of Engineering, has been leading these courses for almost a decade, and discussions that took place on the trip have since resulted in exciting new partnerships – plans for a Greenwich mountain-biking club are underway and a climbing society has been founded.
Also as a result of discussions from the trip, the School of Engineering put together a sponsored team in the Charity Dragon Boat Challenge as part of the Chatham Maritime Trust’s Food and Drinks Festival 2022, held locally to the Medway Campus. A team of students and staff enjoyed participating in the races, representing their university in this community event for a good cause.
