Deshraam Ganeshamoorthy

My first true taste of engineering came in Year 9 when I got involved in the VEX Robotics Competition. I loved it, brainstorming all our ideas, using CAD to design, build and program the robot. This competition inspired me to become an engineer. I want to keep solving these challenging, hands-on problems, where I can be creative in my solutions and work in a team with many other engineers to make a real difference in the world.

I first heard about the Arkwright Engineering Scholarship through teachers at my school. I looked into it further and something that really attracted me was the mentoring scheme. At the time, I really didn’t know what the day-to-day life of an engineer was like, so I felt having the opportunity to talk to someone currently in industry would be very useful.

How did you use your Scholarship funding? 

I enjoy reading about engineering and its newest inventions and discoveries. An interest was the field of soft robotics; it was intriguing as it was so different to the rigid metal robots that I had built as part of the VEX Robotics Competition. When I received my scholarship funding, I had the great opportunity to build my own soft robot. I bought the necessary plastic mixtures to make the actuator, electronics to control the robot and a 3D printer to help with the manufacture of the actuator’s moulds and enclosures. Working on this independently was a new challenge. It was a great experience to explore a field of engineering that was completely new to me.

What did you gain from your Arkwright Scholarship? (Any stand-out experiences? Did it open any doors for you?)

At the time I was interested in motorsport engineering. After mentioning this to Arkwright I was paired with a mentor who was a Scholar himself and currently working for a Formula 1 team. I really enjoyed talking to him about his route to industry and his advice for making the most of my time at university. It was great to discuss some of the technical intricacies of different F1 cars, following a race weekend. It gave me an insight into what working as an F1 engineer would be like.

Where are you studying now, what subject, and how you are finding it so far?

In 2021, I finished school and chose to join the year in industry scheme. The scheme allows school leavers to spend one year working at engineering companies before continuing their engineering studies at university. I am currently working at Springboard Pro, an engineering consultancy that specialises in medical devices. Doing a year in industry wasn’t something I’d thought about before, but the ability to gain hands-on engineering experience was attractive to me, and I knew would be useful in the future. I am part of a project which is designing a medical device that is injected into the body. I have been able to independently conduct experiments, design, program and build the electronics for manufacturing rigs and present my work and findings to our client at weekly meetings. It has been a great experience and I’m very happy I chose to do it, as I know the skills that I’ve learnt will be useful both at university and later in my career.

Once my placement has finished in July 2022, I will go on to study Engineering at the University of Cambridge from October 2022.

Any advice to current Scholars and / or students thinking of applying to Arkwright?

To anyone that is still on the fence, I would highly recommend applying for the Arkwright Engineering Scholarship. It is such a great experience, you get to meet other students your age who are also passionate about engineering and you will learn more about what engineering is all about. My best tip for people applying would be to keep reading about engineering – it will help massively in giving you inspiration for different ideas during the exam as well as being something to talk about in the interview.  

What are your plans for the future? What career path are you hoping to pursue?

I am looking forward to university and learning all about engineering.

I was previously quite certain on studying mechanical engineering, but I am hoping to spend some time deciding which branch of engineering I enjoy the most. I want to try and discover as many new and different career paths as I can during my time at university, before deciding which route I want to take. This year, working in consultancy has opened my eyes to the huge range of engineering careers out there and I’m eager to discover new and exciting jobs.