Our Electrical Graduate Matthew Jarvis has won two prestigious engineering awards; the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) Graduate of the Year Award and the Festo award for the Best Project in Control Automation and Robots.
“There are no secrets to success; it is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure. Winning these awards reflects that as it would not have been possible if I didn’t work hard, properly prepare and learn from my mistakes,” Matthew said.
He started with our business in 2012 as a summer placement student at Brinsworth Strip Mill and secured sponsorship for his second year at university. He returned to the Scunthorpe site in 2013 on a year-long industrial placement within the business where he spent time learning in many of the different areas. When Matthew completed his placement, he returned to university to finish his final year and then rejoined the company as a graduate last September. He was nominated for the Graduate of the Year Award by the head of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department at Sheffield Hallam University. He was a strong contender for the award as he achieved first class honours in his Electrical and Electronic Engineering Bachelors Degree. He was nominated for the Festo Best Project in Control Automation and Robots by his project supervisor at his university, who was impressed by the project he created for the Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS) Plant, which was to form part of his degree. Festo is an American company that manufactures and supplies various instrumentation for control applications.
Matthew named his project Sump 13, which involved automating and controlling the water being exported from the sump to ultimately avoid potential flooding or emergency dumping of water in the beck. His project stood out as he designed and built a control system that used both the theory and knowledge he learnt at university as well as considering the practicality and application of the real-world environment. Although Matthew won the award on his own merit, he said: “It’s safe to say that without the opportunity from the business and in particular the BOS Plant Electrical team, I may not have won this award.”
He was presented with the awards and the prize money – £50 from the IET award and £125 from the Festo award – during the faculty award ceremony on the same day as his graduation in November.
Glynn Hopkinson, Improvement and Development Engineer, said: “Matthew has worked very hard to achieve these awards over the last two years. His work-based final year university project at the BOS Plant has helped him achieve these accolades, putting theory into practice. Many congratulations to him. He is a shining example to other graduates of whatyou can achieve if you put your mind to it.”
Grahame Wallace, Chief Engineer, added: “Well done to Matt, who has progressed from a summer placement student to full-time employment, and deserves the recognition of the awards he has received for his application and hard work. He is an inspiration to all our trainees.”