My Devotion to Engineering Studies

Engineering didn’t occur to me as a possible career as a young child with huge aspirations. However, it is an ambition that has developed Maths and physics have always been my strongest subjects at school, largely because of my curiosity for them. What fueled my interest to learn about these subjects in greater depth were channels on YouTube, such as Vsauce, Veritasium and Ted Talks. Each of them delves deeply into a magnitude of topics ranging from space travel to the concept of supertasks, that helped to feed my inquisitive mind. Therefore, engineering was an obvious choice of study. The combined utilisation of both maths and physics theory in a practical manner really excited me, as it allowed a creative freedom in which I could specialise and thrive.

In my engineering GCSE, I designed a hand exoskeleton as part of a design brief. It used a system of nitinol wire and spring-propelled joints integrated along a thin titanium exoskeleton in order to apply additional force to any gripping motion. The result was a product that I was able to partly model in CAD software and later 3D print. During my GCSEs as I also obtained work experience at MOOG, Tewkesbury. It was here that I designed and digitally stress tested spanners in CAD software which I then went on to 3D print and physically test. This was my first insight into using electronic software to I visited CERN earlier in the year as part of a school trip. The experience was enthralling and seeing a process all the way from start to finish is something that drives me forward through tasks. The sense of accomplishment at the end of something you have devoted yourself to is addictive and can be adapted to many situations.

Outside of education, I devote my weekends to mountain biking along technical trails at local bike parks and have been doing so for the past 10 years now. As a result of more than a few challenging rides and climbs, I have learnt to overcome mental barriers that would otherwise stop me. In addition, I throw myself into all types of racquet sports, with squash and table tennis being at the forefront of these. I have attended a number of local tournaments for squash and competed in the Cheltenham Table Tennis League for 2 years so far. I have developed a variety of key skills required for any group project through my experiences. For three years I volunteered as a young leader at Covies Youth Group; a local Christian youth group that aims to teach boys aged 10-15 of the church. The role involved leading groups of up to 15 boys in sports or craft activities, acting as an appropriate role model and guiding them to behave responsibly. I have participated in many stretching challenges such as the Physics Olympiad last year in which i achieved a Bronze 1.