Architecture, Design and the Built Environment

John Etherington

John Etherington
BA (Hons) Product Design
Company: Bigblue Product Design
2010 Graduate

What made you chose to study at NTU?
I've always had a fascination with how products are assembled and made from a very early age and found studying Design and Technology at A-Level to be one of my most enjoyable subjects. From there it became apparent that this would be the industry that I wanted to go into in the future. I chose Nottingham Trent University to study mainly due to its excellent connections and track record in placing students for a year in industry. The placement year proved very useful for myself and a number of other students, by securing a job after graduation as well as helping considerably with commercial awareness and design for manufacture throughout my final year.

What is the highlight of your course?
I would say that the workshop facilities available to us at NTU and the excellent advice and guidance from the workshop technicians has been one of the highlights of the course, especially in the final year. They are all well experienced and have backgrounds in manufacturing which has consequently helped considerably in improving my ability to design for manufacture.

Can you explain a little more about your placement?
The placement was organised through the University as they have already employed two other students from NTU following graduation and the links with the company were already established. The placement took place for a 12 month period over the third year of the course. The experience has been very useful as it has shown exactly how projects are undertaken in industry.

What are you doing now?
I started work at Bigblue Product Design in September following a much encouraged holiday. I feel great about already having a job sorted and it has reduced the stress throughout the end of the final year as I have not needed to look for any. This is also why I feel that a placement is an invaluable part of any course, especially in the design industries where it can be quite competitive to find employment.