Category: Graduate stories

Matt Reed in the Bognor Regis Time Portal

Brighton graduate’s time portal design boosts tourism at Bognor Regis seafront

University of Brighton graduate Matt Reed is the artist behind a new technology bringing the rich history of the coastal town of Bognor Regis to life.

Beginning as an idea while studying an Architectural and Urban Design MA at the University of Brighton, Bognor Regis Time Portal allows visitors to use their own phones or tablets to get a glimpse of Victorian-era Bognor, with 3D recreations of the wooden bathing machines that once lined the town’s beach.

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Picture of Joel Wallace, architecture alumnus

Importance of community spirit at Brighton and beyond

Architecture graduate Joel Wallace Erabu shares how his experience at the University of Brighton has led him to help disadvantaged communities and inspire the next generation of architects. 

Joel Wallace Erabu tells us about how being at Brighton university, and his experience of the city itself, gave him a powerful sense of community – and how he has applied this to his own international career and principles.

In addition to the multiple impressive industry recognitions he has received, he also donates a lot of time to mentoring future architects and has spent time working on charitable projects to help disadvantaged communities back home in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Prayaag Pandya profile photo

Construction Site Manager part of award-winning team with a love for Brighton

Meet Prayaag Pandya, a Construction Management graduate whose professional journey is rooted in his education at the University of Brighton.

The Brighton Effect is all about the foundations that your time at the university provides you with and how you carry this into your professional career, putting your own individual stamp on the journey.

Prayaag epitomises both this sentiment and the graduate attribute of a resilient self-advocate with both his project management and leadership skills, and his desire to seek out career development opportunities such as obtaining chartered status with professional bodies.

We caught up with him to find out more about his time at Brighton, some of the award-winning teams he has been part of and how he applies things he learnt at university to provide a theoretical basis to tackle real-world work scenarios including in his role now at Galliford Try.

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My dissertation helped me become a project engineer with global company

My name is Alice Grimwood, a BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering graduate from the university of Brighton. I graduated in 2022 and worked in the STEP Lab (Sustainable Technology and Engineering Projects) for my Final Year Dissertation and over the summer period. The focus of my dissertation was the Nano-fluids test-bed where I continued the build, and test improvements in thermal systems.

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Headshot of Edzwan Redza Anwar

Proud international Brighton Effect family member celebrates diversity at the university

Civil Engineering alum Edzwan Redza Anwar shares his views on the importance of diversity and tells us more about his work in sustainability with the Islamic Development Bank.

Edzwan, an Operations Team Leader (Energy) for the Islamic Development Bank, recalls how his time at Brighton as an international student helped bring out his confidence and meet people from different backgrounds.

He shared with us the importance of being open-minded, respecting and valuing diversity and how his time at Brighton helped hone his skills communicating ideas and collaborating with others.
Being an international student at Brighton

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Ada headshot looking at the camera

Civil engineering graduate Ada tells us how Brighton provided the tools for life as a graduate 

Civil Engineering graduate Ada Nwadigo is managing director of her own company, Jona Infrastructure, and credits her time at Brighton with the tools to set her up for life as a graduate.

Ada tells us more about her time at Brighton and the combination of practical and theoretical aspects of her degree, engaging and working with a diverse range of people, opportunities to improve employability with industry contacts and the support she received from staff at the university.

Why choose the University of Brighton?

“My journey to the University of Brighton was influenced by a family connection and a deep fascination with the course content. My grandfather had studied Mechanical Engineering in the same town of Brighton, and his experiences had a profound impact on me. Moreover, the prospect of studying in the vibrant city of Brighton was highly appealing.

“What truly attracted me to the university and this degree was the course content itself. I found it to be incredibly compelling, especially when compared to what other universities had to offer. The opportunity to delve into technical subjects and work on cutting-edge technology excited me immensely. I believed that this course would equip me with the skills necessary to make a significant and positive impact on the world.”

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Tom King at graduation on Brighton seafront

Civil engineering graduate success

Congratulations to Tom King who graduated with a BEng Civil Engineering (Degree Apprenticeship) in 2022 and has successfully passed his Professional Review End Point Assessment to be registered as an Incorporated Engineering with the ICE.

Find out more about Tom, his time at Brighton and what he is doing now.

Brighton, civil engineering and a degree apprenticeship
I chose the University of Brighton because of the stature of the university and the offer of a part-time degree apprenticeship programme. The apprenticeship route was a good option for me as it allowed me to work whilst studying part-time, which meant that I was gaining workplace experience alongside academic knowledge. It also meant that I could earn whilst I learned, allowing me to progress personally as well as professionally.

The civil engineering course was well structured and involved a variety of modules, ranging from structural analysis to project management. It’s given me a range of knowledge that I can apply to the workplace. I would recommend it; the variety of modules allows students to try their hand at different aspects of civil engineering, which can help guide them in their career, working towards their strengths and desired career path.

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Standing beside electric vehicle by University of Brighton sign

Journey from foundation engineering student to Lead Electric Vehicle Engineer

My name is Emmanuel Sakyi, my journey at the University of Brighton started in 2016 on the Aeronautical Engineering (Foundation Year), now Aerospace Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year. I gained a place for a year in industry as Mechanical Engineering placement student with Network Rail after my second year of studies. After the completion of my project I switched from Aerospace to Mechanical Engineering MEng and carried on through till my final/ master’s year of study. I returned from my year out to most of my year group graduating and the migration of lectures from in-person to remote, due to the pandemic.

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Syeed standing in front of Johnson Matthey company sign

From degree to designing test equipment for ground-breaking research programmes

I’m Syeed Ansari, an Electrical Control Design Engineer. I studied MEng (Hons) Electrical and Electronic Engineering and graduated in 2021. During my final year of university, I was highly involved in the STEP Lab (Sustainable Technology and Engineering Projects) activities while undertaking Major Team Project and Independent Study modules. I also undertook a paid summer experience as a Lab Demonstrator.

Group of students sitting down to dinner at a long table
Students standing in front of University of Brighton sign
Three students standing outside engineering lab
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Matt Read graduate sitting a table smiling at the camera

Space to explore on our Architectural and Urban Design MA

Matt Reed graduated from our Architectural and Urban Design MA in 2023. He tells us about some of the his highlights at Brighton and how he is turning his major project into an exciting installation in 2024.

Why Architectural and Urban Design MA at Brighton?
I had been thinking about a career change for a while and Brighton had a course that really interested me which seemed like it could be an excellent extension to my previous studies – Fine Art intermediate at Kingston University (1993-96) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Glass & Architecture at Central St. Martins (2008-09) – and maybe offer up new work prospects.

I really enjoyed the course, and I highly recommend it, especially for someone looking to do something a bit more experimental within the field of architecture. At the time I started the course it was still during the pandemic, so a lot of the study was initially online. But things opened up gradually over time.

Support and space to explore
I actually took a year out in the middle of my studies. I did the part time route, which was two years, but I took a year out and ended up spreading it over three years. This worked well for me, as it allowed me to do paid work around the course. But, it also gave me thinking space and time to really absorb the material and to apply it to my own creative practice. The university staff were very flexible about this, which was great. The support provided was excellent and they were always happy to accommodate my needs.

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