Hip hip hooray - another graduation day

18 July 2011

Tuesday morning's ceremony celebrated the achievements of students from Liverpool Screen School, the School of Engineering, Technology and Maritime Operations and the General Engineering Research Institute. Here are just a few of this morning's stories:

Jack Clisby, BEng (Hons) Automotive Engineering, held the challenging position of Team Leader for LJMU’s Formula Student Racing Team and now works for Aston Martin as a TVM Engineer. This year-long position takes the form of an industrial placement and competing against 105 universities from 23 countries, the Formula Student team has to design and build a car from scratch and then race it on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit.

"The Formula Student Racing Team experience at LJMU was hugely beneficial. It gave me a solid grounding in working with suppliers, designers and engineers. My experiences as Team Leader are a direct correlation to my day to day work at Aston Martin; the skills gained are definitely an asset to my development as a professional engineer. It was best placement you could have if you want experience of project management in the automotive industry."

Tom Witherspoon is from the Wirral and has been a valued member of the FS team taking part in the event at Silverstone last year and will represent the University at Silverstone and Germany this year. He has invested a lot of time and energy in the team entry, both helping to design and build the new car. He will be graduating this year with a First Class MEng degree in Mechanical Engineering Degree.

"At the end of this week we are heading down to Silverstone for the Formula Student UK competition. On Thursday we will be involved in ‘scrutineering’ and if we pass that – which we did first time last year – then we will be doing static events on Friday and then progress through the competition. The static events involve a range of skills and expertise – delivering costings, vehicle design information and business plans. We will need to promote our vehicle and explain the design to a panel of judges and then each specialist within our team has to present to individual expert judges.I have secured a graduate position at Sellafield LTD as a graduate engineer working in nuclear decommissioningworking at safely decommissioning nuclear facilities. The combination of skills and experience gained during my degree, especially the project management side of things, and Formula Student has definitely prepared me for my job."

Dina Meiramova - graduating from Management, Transport and Logistics, Dina is the first student from Kazakhstan to graduate from LJMU. She is studying at the University with the aid of a Kazakh Presidential Scholarship.

"In Kazakhstan it is Government policy to send 300 students to study overseas each year. I won this award in 2007 and after completing a foundation degree I started the degree in Management, Transport and logistics at Liverpool John Moores University. I chose LJMU because the course really stood out from the rest and it was well established with many lecturers that have sound experience within the industry. The course has allowed me to put theoretical knowledge into practice in the real world of industry. I also believe that I now have excellent interpersonal skills. We have undertaken projects for both Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Merseytravel and the findings have been used in real business. I have valued working alongside industry professionals and delivering presentations. It has been a fantastic experience and it has really prepared me for the world of work. Shortly, I have an interview for a graduate position with Kazakhstan Railways – they are looking to recruit young people who have knowledge and skills in transport management."

Film Studies and Creative Writing graduates Stephen Ryan and Dominic Allen are wasting no time breaking into the media industry. Thanks to dedicated business support, office space and vital start up funding from LJMU’s Student Enterprise Team, Stephen and Dominic have set up their own production company, Movere Pictures. The company has already secured a high profile commission from the Liverpool Film Office to produce a promo to be shown at the forthcoming premier of the new ‘Captain Scarlet’ movie at the end of July.

The Liverpool Film Office initially approached the Liverpool Screen School Production Unit with the project. Set up a year ago by the University to co-ordinate contacts with the film and production industry, the Unit is managed by Paula Baines -"Job prospects for our graduates are good but success depends on being motivated, making contacts with industry professionals and putting yourself out there," says Paula, who stresses the importance of students completing extra-curricular work experience – both paid and voluntary – on top of their degree studies. "Stephen and Dominic prove just how important it is to learn a broad range of industry skills before you graduate. They are very professional, very dedicated and very reliable. They have already proved that they can deliver maximum impact with minimum fuss. They are exceptional."

Will Walters, BA (Hons) Media Professional Studies is the grandson of the former Dean of Liverpool, the late Derrick Walters, who took an active and inspiring role in the regeneration of Liverpool. Will has represented MOFILM at film festivals around the world. He has also produced his first TV advert for Wall’s Viennetta, - which was selected to be broadcast during the recent Royal Wedding. "Opportunities like the Cannes International Advertising Festival, provided me with important professional skills, and following this I went on to work as a Production Executive with MOFILM. I have now set up my own production company and I think my degree was an essential part of driving me to take this entrepreneurial approach."


Pictued: Graduates from the School of Engineering, Technology and Maritime Operations with their lecturers