Over 75 members of the Mechanics, Materials, and Engineering Design Division attended a one day conference at Madingley Hall, focused on transferable skills training and building links across research groups. The conference is now in its second year and proved again to be a resounding success.
It’s brilliant to get the Division out and doing something together, getting to know your colleagues and building some great relationships. The setting, the talks and the opportunity to learn were fantastic. Without hesitation I would say it should be repeated.
As part of the Mechanics, Materials, and Engineering Design Division's transferable skills training programme for graduate students, the Transferable Skills Conference (TSC) was inaugurated in 2011. Transferable skills are those broader sets of skills that are applicable beyond the specific work required for a PhD and cover topics such as giving presentations, managing time and providing leadership. These skills help to prepare graduate students for life after their PhD. The conference also serves as an opportunity for the entire Division to come together and find out what everyone is working on. The TSC is a student-organised event, this year led by PhD students Tim Johns and Amy Rimmer, and backed-up by a superb committee.
The programme for the day consisted of a range of speakers and interactive sessions from both industry and academia, as well as a series of student presentations and a poster presentation session. Industry speakers included Giles Wood from the Red Bull Formula One Team talking about “Dynamics, optimisation and control in F1”, and Malcolm Hillel, head of Rolls-Royce’s Advanced Concepts Centre; the interactive sessions included sessions on “Constructive negotiation and soft selling” and “Making an impact”, as well as many others.
Success is best gauged from the feedback of those who attended the day. Comments included:
“This transferable skills conference was great. I was really happy to attend, and I am also eager to attend the conference next year.”
“I thought the conference was FANTASTIC!... I learnt a lot and found the day very enjoyable!”
“It’s brilliant to get the Division out and doing something together, getting to know your colleagues and building some great relationships. The setting, the talks and the opportunity to learn were fantastic. Without hesitation I would say it should be repeated.”
