Case Study

Before coming to university I was doing A Levels in Maths, Chemistry and Physics. I chose to come to university because I wanted to gain some experience and enhance my knowledge and skills too. I was keen to take an academic approach, and I also wanted to decide what I wanted to specialise in, regarding my future career.

I chose to study at the University of Sunderland because the undergraduate engineering courses are accredited by the IET, and because Sunderland offered a course that combined electronic and electrical engineering. I liked the location of the Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter’s – it felt like a good place to study. The City of Sunderland itself was also a perfect distance from my hometown, easily reachable by car and coach.

My favourite part of the course included applying what I learned in lectures to the practical sessions. Learning different software was also fascinating, and I enjoyed group assignments as they were a nice challenge.

I have found the transition from on-campus teaching to online teaching during lockdown has been well managed. Lectures were well understood and the conference tool on Canvas (our VLE) has been very useful as we could speak directly to the lecturer and ask questions. I have been keeping in touch with my classmates over video calls and group chats. I haven’t taken part in any online social activities, but I’ve been following the University’s social media and also attended the Postgraduate Online Open Day.

My advice to future students would be to join societies to make friends, ask help when you need it, balance work and fun – and don’t leave assignments to the last minute! Enjoy your university life and make the most of it.

My future career aim is to move forward with a masters degree and then gain employment, preferably in electrical engineering. It has been a wonderful and exciting experience studying at the University of Sunderland. I have loved every moment and made some amazing memories.”

Published 22 June 2020