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Find out what Coventry graduates are doing now and share your news with others in the next issue.
Graduated 1960s
Graduated 1970s
David Sansom Electrical Engineering, 1966
Shirley Wells (nee Dales/ColesParsons) Graphic Design, 1972
After leaving the Lanchester, I completed the IEE (now IET) Engineering Council examinations and subsequently became a Chartered Engineer. I spent 10 years working in Germany following which I returned to the UK and did a part-time MBA. I am now semi-retired and live in Somerset.
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www.coventry.ac.uk/alumni
I left University and joined British Aerospace as a materials and composites engineer. I spent 10 years learning aircraft engineering and materials and eventually set up my own company to exploit the technology, namely Advanced Plastics and Composites. Today their company produces injection moulded parts, mainly for the automotive industry and has grown from three employees in 1992 to over 40 people at its heyday and with a turnover of £3 million.
Swee Lee Wang System and Control, 1979 Since graduating I have worked my way up the career ladder, starting off as an engineer and climbing up to General Manager and Vice President of Siemens. Today, I run my own company supplying and implementing wireless broadband solutions for ISP, Telcos and enterprise customers. I also have another company manufacturing hospitality telephones and guestroom devices for the global hospitality market.
Douglas Robertson Applied Chemistry, 1968 The highlights of my computing career were two space projects. The first was to design on-board software for Beagle2 (micro geochemical lab) which was taken to Mars by the Mars Express spacecraft to search for signs of life. The Mars Express was successfully launched from Kazakhstan on 2 June 2003. Beagle2 is assumed to have failed to land successfully on Mars on Christmas morning 2003 as no communication was ever established and the cause of failure is unknown. The second project was to assist with the design of on-board software for Huygens taken to Titan (moon of Saturn) by the Cassini spacecraft to determine atmospheric and surface composition. The Cassini was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral on 15 October 1997. Huygens separated from the Cassini on Christmas morning 2004, entered Titan’s atmosphere on the morning of 14 January 2005 and then landed on Titan at lunchtime on the same day. Much valuable scientific data, including fascinating images, was obtained from this very successful mission.
Peter Thompson Applied Physics, 1974
Graduated 1980s I left the Graphics course one year early to move with my husband to Teesside. I did a BSc in Social Studies at Teesside Poly and then became a Careers Officer for Cleveland County. I gained other qualifications such as NVQ4 in Counselling, Connexions Advisor Diploma, British Psychological Society Level B Certificate, psychometric testing qualifications and so on. I worked for a Youth Offending Service as an Education Advisor for four years before retiring early because of partial blindness in 2007.
David Pick Geography, 1982
After graduating, I trained as a secondary teacher and worked in Manchester for six years. In 1989 I emigrated to Australia, spending time in Geraldton and Kalgoorlie. During that time I worked in the Technical and Further Education sector and studied for a Master of Arts in Science and Technology Policy at Murdoch University. In 2002, I completed a PhD in public policy with Murdoch University. I am now a senior lecturer at the School of Management at Curtin University of Technology, Perth Western Australia.