After leaving school Gary Marshall from Newtownards, decided that the A Level route wasn’t for him so he decided to go to the South Eastern Regional College to do Engineering as he always had an interest in Technology and Design.
From 1999 to 2003 Gary gained an NVQ Level 2 in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, a BTEC GNVQ Advanced in Engineering, a City and Guilds Computer Aided Draughting and Design 2-D, and finally the Higher National Diploma in Engineering. He then enrolled on the second year of the BEng in Engineering Management at the University of Ulster. In July 2006 he graduated with a First Class Honours and a Diploma in Industrial Studies with Commendation. Gary puts his success down to his years spent at the South Eastern Regional College.
Gary enjoyed the “hands-on” approach to engineering at the South Eastern Regional College with the balance of more academic studies. He thought the facilities were impressive, providing a real life industry experience, combining up-to-date computer facilities with the latest software, CNC machines and cutting edge technology with the more traditional and conventional methods of manufacturing.
Gary commented; “I benefited greatly from doing the courses at the South Eastern Regional College, during the first two years I gained core skills, through the completion of exercises in the engineering workshop I developed and improved my ‘hands-on’ skills and abilities whilst gaining experience”.
“Both the GNVQ and HND allowed me to develop my report writing and presentation skills through the completion of numerous assignments. Over the four years, there were several occasions where team work and group projects were a necessity, thus developing me not only as an individual but as a team member. In terms of further education and completing my degree at UUJ, completing the HND was the best way for me because I had my engineering background, in comparison to those who started the degree course from A-levels.”
At the South Eastern Regional College, Bangor Campus, he won a prestigious two-week engineering scholarship with The Air League, one of only two to be awarded in Northern Ireland. This involved work shadowing of various engineering disciplines within Bombardier Aerospace, including design, stress analysis, quality materials and testing.
He currently works for the Northern Ireland Technology Centre (NITC) at Queens University Belfast as a Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate; although his work is based within Bombardier Aerospace. This involves developing and deploying new manufacturing processes within the company, with the overall aim of reducing manufacturing time and cost. In the future he hopes to have a dynamic managerial role within a manufacturing organisation possibly further afield than Northern Ireland.
Gary would like to thank his lecturers at the South Eastern Regional College and stated: “My lecturers were very approachable, understanding and supportive throughout my four years at the college, there is a very informal relationship between the students and staff in comparison to the school-learning environment. The industry experience that the lecturers and technicians brought to class was invaluable. There were also numerous fieldtrips to engineering companies, such as recycling plants and CNC precision engineering companies, in addition to this as a class we went paintballing several times along with other activities these were seen as team building exercises. I would highly recommend this course to anybody who wishes pursue engineering as a career it is an excellent starting point.”