Matthew Craig - MEng Mechanical Engineering

Matthew Craig (24) is the first member of his family to go to university, something he never expected to do.

“I decided to go to university as I felt that it would set me up to have the best possible life in the future. I chose RGU for its graduate employment rate and because it was local to me. The facilities were a big draw for me too.”

After completing his secondary education at Kincorth Academy, Matthew attended the North East Scotland College where he achieved a Higher National Diploma. Through the Degree Link programme he applied to study at RGU and gained a direct entry into third year.

Matthew graduates with a MEng in Mechanical Engineering and he is incredibly proud of his achievement. “The most memorable moment for me personally was being awarded the IMechE Project Prize for my individual thesis in fourth year. Receiving this award from an institution which represents over 120,000 mechanical engineers from around the world was obviously a huge personal achievement for me.”

However, the path to success has not always been easy as the pandemic brought challenges to Matthew’s learning experience, “Studying during the pandemic wasn’t easy and I especially found it difficult maintaining concentration and application whilst working from home. A good piece of advice is to plan ahead, perhaps more than ever, and to make sure you have an idea of which tasks need done on a day-to-day basis.”

Despite the impact of the pandemic on the global economy, Matthew is hopeful about his future and wants to pursue a career as a project engineer or mechanical engineer. “My time at RGU placed emphasis on improving simple but vital skills such as teamwork, pragmatism and the use of language. RGU has enabled me to enhance my development as an engineer in many ways which perhaps cannot not fully be expressed through the award I have gained.