Three new Lancaster University engineering graduates have just started new careers at the prestigious British sports car manufacturing company Aston Martin.
Loren Wright, 23, from Nottingham, (MEng in Mechanical Engineering), Robert Mellink, 22, from Epperstone, Nottinghamshire, (MEng in Mechanical Engineering) and James Muir, 23, from Middlewich, Cheshire, (MEng in Electronic Systems Engineering) all graduated this year.
Loren, whose love of Formula 1 led to her ‘natural path’ in engineering, works on the development of future Aston Martin models in her role as Body Structures Graduate Engineer.
“Working here is amazing,” she says. “From the first day I was given an incredible amount of responsibility and treated as an equal among my colleagues, rather than a recent graduate who needed hand-holding. It is hard work but incredibly satisfying.”
She chose Lancaster University due to its collegiate nature and also because it offered the chance to study for one year abroad, which greatly appealed. Her one-year placement was at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in Switzerland
Robert has had a long interest in engineering and has always been a mechanically-minded problem solver. He works in Aston Martin’s Advance Manufacturing Engineering (AME) department which is responsible for supporting the introduction of new models and model updates. This involves working with a wide variety of departments from design to production.
“Aston Martin has a fantastic heritage and smart facilities. I am enjoying the work environment and the opportunities available” says Robert, who chose Lancaster University for its good ranking and beautiful countryside. “Working in AME allows me to participate in a wide range of exciting projects the company is working on.”
James chose an engineering degree because he has always enjoyed building things and taking them apart to find out more about them. But his true passion lies with electronics and, as such, found electronic engineering to be his perfect degree choice with excellent career opportunities.
In his role as a graduate Electrical Integration Engineer he is currently working on the Infotainment Systems at Aston Martin Lagonda working with suppliers to develop software and hardware.
He chose Lancaster University as it was an accredited degree in a good location and the common first year in engineering appealed to him for a broader, better-rounded higher education. He also really liked the idea of a collegiate system which he thoroughly enjoyed along with work experience at Bentley Motors
“I love it here at Aston Martin and am very pleased to have joined such an excellent company and…I get to drive the cars. It has always been a boyhood dream to drive an Aston and now I get to do that as part of my job!”