Katia Merle - Graduate
Design Engineer
BSc (Hons) Yacht & Powercraft Design
When I arrived in the UK from France three
years ago to study Yacht and Powercraft Design
at Southampton Institute I was not expecting
to stay for so long… I very soon understood
that finding employment that would keep me passionate
about my studies would be a challenge in itself,
and I was delaying a potential first job. I
was even about to start a Masters degree in
Naval Architecture in France when I received
a positive answer from Gurit.
After only three months at Gurit I already
know that I would not have found a better way
of going forward, not even in my home country.
This is because through Gurit’s training
scheme having no real previous experience is
seen as a fact, not as a handicap.
As an Engineer I knew I would need some practical
experience before I could start to design anything;
where else could I have found this focused training,
tailored to extend upon my general knowledge
in Composites, whilst allowing me to be hands-on
from the first day with my own projects to run?
Because the composite structural design projects
I will be running cannot only be seen from an
engineering point of view, this training is
extremely valuable.
Getting a feel of what is involved in other
professional fields around me is vital, and
Gurit has allowed me to discover challenging
aspects of the composite world such as material
optimisation, processing and production, which
I am now able to include in design projects.
Gurit produces competitive solutions and stays
on the top of the market by pushing us to use
resources and knowledge from the entire company.
As my training goes ahead I am gaining more
confidence and my interest in composites is
stronger; structural design projects are even
more challenging now that I have been truly
implicated in what is involved around them.
I am surrounded by engineers working on the
most exciting designs within the sailing market,
keeping my motivation at its highest.
At Gurit I have met a wide range of people
from managers to technicians that are all kind
to share their experiences, and because everybody
is aiming for a common achievement I rapidly
found my place and my role to play.
Suddenly evolving from a student to an employee
is not the easiest thing to do; it demands an
effort of adaptation and it was not necessarily
a natural move to do as Gurit is a structured
organisation following precise management rules.
For these reasons moving to the island after
three years of student life in Southampton seemed
adventurous to me, therefore I decided to stay
on the mainland and commute everyday to keep
my lifestyle as intact as possible. However,
the management system appears to be more useful
and less demanding than I first thought and
I have discovered such a friendly atmosphere
in the company that I could now easily imagine
myself living on the island.
On the whole, Gurit has opened a door for me
in to the most highly competitive projects in
the field that I have always wanted to work
in!
The company gives young graduates like me
a real chance to get involved and be recognised
for their work.
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