Ben Lindley, Bill Kerss Scholarship winner
Ben Lindley has found that winning an IET Scholarship has freed up his time to study, made money worries a thing of the past, and will help him further his career for years to come…
Ben is currently in his first year as engineering student at Cambridge. Interested in maths and physics, he decided that engineering was the career for him, as he wanted to be able to apply what he studied to the real world.
“Engineering corresponds to my interests and will allow me to directly apply the skills I am acquiring to solving real life problems,” he explains.
With a strong interest in power engineering, Ben’s long term career goal is to achieve Chartered status, which we’re sure he will achieve as he’s succeeded in his goals so far, including high marks at A Level which he believe helped him get awarded with the Bill Kerrs Scholarship.
“I also believe I was able to convey my passion for engineering and back this up with sufficient substance: for example engineering-related work experience and the Engineering Education Scheme,” he notes.
This is a scholarship fund in the memory of Bill Kerss, which was established in 1998 for the benefit of young engineers. Available for award every four years. Bill Kerss, FIEE, was a member of the Institution for more than 40 years and spent his working life in the electricity supply industry. He was Chairman of the Power Division in 1995/96 and was National Grid’s first Chief Executive.
The money from the award is helping Ben to focus on his degree and spend as much time as he needs to achieve academically.
“This means that for example in the Easter Holidays I can focus on degree work rather than having to get a part time job to pay the bills. More importantly, I believe the prestige of the award is proving of benefit when trying to find summer internships and will continue to help me in this way in the future.”
Ben also believes that becoming a student member has helped him in many other ways, and will continue to do so.
“I was offered free membership in January 2005 for a year as part of the Engineering Education Scheme. This brought to my attention the possibility of becoming a student member of an engineering institution. I believed it would be a good way of furthering my interest in engineering and getting a feel for what it involved before making a final decision on my choice of degree.
“Becoming a student member is a great idea if you’re thinking of going into engineering. For example the magazines produced are very interesting and allow you to get a flavour of what Engineering is all about,” he concludes.
OTHER INTERNET RESOURCES:
From the IET