Gilkes Engineers achieve Masters in Mechanical Engineering
Two of Gilkes’ post graduate engineers are celebrating after achieving their Masters of Science in Mechanical engineering.
Ben Welton, a Senior Engineer from the pump division of Gilkes and Austen Wheatman, Product Manager for Hydropower have both worked for the company for 10 years and studied with Lancaster University alongside their full-time positions. The achievement comes at the end of 2 years of study and the submission on their final dissertations.
With Ben and Austen taking their technical and professional skills to the next level, Gilkes are fortunate to be able to continue to benefit from the in house pool of highly experienced graduate engineers and designers.
Austen Wheatman: “Finding time to study alongside work and family life was initially challenging. However, the course content aligned well with my day-to-day engineering tasks, and therefore I quickly benefitted from increasing my knowledge of engineering principles as well as learning more efficient methods to approach engineering activities. The next step in my career development is to gain the accreditation of Chartered Engineer.”
Ben Welton: “The content of Lancaster University’s MSc was hugely relevant to the work at Gilkes, which was primarily what attracted me towards applying to study there. The course allowed Austen and I to look back at first principle calculations of turbine design, to gain an understanding behind the calculations we currently produce. The year-long company based dissertation that I produced, gave me the opportunity to focus on some R&D work that I have been wanting to complete for some time. Like Austen, my next aim is to become a Chartered Engineer with the IMechE.”
Gilkes invests in the sponsorship of undergraduates and the training of graduate engineers & apprentices. Part of this sponsorship is through the IMechE scheme and the development of our engineers enables them to gain Chartered Engineer status.
Tim Lehane, Technical Director, Gilkes: “Congratulations to Austen and Ben for achieving their Masters in engineering. It is great to see engineers gaining new knowledge and qualifications. As well as the benefit to their personal development, Gilkes also gains considerably from the elements of study based around Gilkes products and business. It’s a win for everyone…….”