Craig Stewart - BEng (Hons) Electronic and Electrical Engineering

Craig (30) decided to go to university as he wanted to attain both personal and academic growth. “I wanted to build synthesizers and audio equipment to further my hobby as a musician and also to earn capital, develop skills that I can use to better the lives of my partner, my family, my friends and in the long term, my community.”

He came to RGU via the articulation route through the North East Scotland College after several years of full time employment. “I was attracted to Electrical Engineering as I read online that it was one of the hardest academic subjects one could undertake. I knew it would offer me a challenge and it also struck the right balance between expressing personal creative philosophies and academia. It also happened to coincide with a few of my other interests, my music and sound engineering.”

Craig had a positive experience in the university and benefitted from the university’s Employability team who provided ideas and advice on how to best position himself for success in the current job market. Throughout his time at RGU, he continued to pursue his love for music while also being dedicated to his studies, “I DJ, songwrite and compose in my free time with my friends. While doing a gig in Hackney, London last year, I stayed up 32 hours straight over the weekend, played my set and still managed to make it back to RGU for advanced electronics on Monday.”

Despite the pandemic being a true test of resilience, Craig was able to see the bright side of the situation, “I counted myself lucky really as I had my Honours Project to deal with 10 hours a day during peak lockdown which distracted me”. He also has great advice for current students who may be struggling, “Exercise frequently, studies have shown that frequent exercising causes neurogenesis (brain regeneration) and alleviates the effects of depression. Cove Bay is a great place to visit within range of the university campus”.

Craig looks back fondly at his experience of studying at the School of Engineering and working with experts in the field, “The university has given me the opportunity and access to experts at the peak of their profession, Dr WK Fung walked me through loads of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science algorithms for about eight months, a man who is clearly one of the best minds in his field. Overall, I was in good hands the entire time I was at RGU.”