Ash
Marlborough

Why did you choose NTU and your course?

Ever since I visited on the open day the whole place felt right to me, Nottingham is a great city to be a student. The course has an interesting combination of modules that I knew would give me a varied four years and the lecturers had a clear passion for the field.

Have you been involved in any live projects of briefs on your course and if so, can you talk a bit about one you really enjoyed?

The course has connections with several exciting live competitions and client briefs which gives valuable and realistic experience. A highlight from this was a brief in collaboration with the ‘Engineers Without Borders’ charity where I worked with a small team to create a meaningful solution to help young women with the taboo of menstruation in rural India. It was immensely rewarding to work on and we achieved 2^nd place at the national level.

Could you please explain more about your current / recent placement, and what you did during this time?

I worked for Iterign, a design and manufacturing consultancy, for 12 months. Much of my year was spent working with a broad variety of clients, creating innovative designs and functional prototypes for their briefs. I provided input at every stage of the design process from initial meetings to preparing for manufacture and production.

What skills have you gained by completing this placement?

I feel much more confident in my capabilities, and I was able to improve my skills with industry-standard technical software throughout the year, even gaining additional qualifications in them. I also gained experience in web design and UX through my responsibility to overhaul the company website which was completely new for me.

How will these skills enhance your employability for your chosen career?

A designer’s understanding of software is critical to executing their ideas and vision in an efficient way so the additional experience I have had with this has been very beneficial. The field of design is also requiring more multidisciplinary thinking and skills, so being able to branch out and appreciate other elements of design makes you more valuable to employ.

What advice would you give to an NTU student about to begin a placement?

Be curious and ask lots of questions. The people around you have a wealth of experience and technical knowledge you can learn from and will help to make you a better designer.