June 8, 2015, by Matt Neville
My Visit to the UK and the PGR Engineering Celebration Event 2015
On 23 September 2014, the annual Postgraduate research showcase was held at the University of Nottingham Malaysia campus. I was delighted to be awarded the grand prize for my poster amongst 43 postgraduate research students. The exciting award was a travel fund to the UK, which granted me the opportunity to take part in the research showcase being held at the University of Nottingham UK campus.
The annual Postgraduate research showcase was held at the University Park campus, as is tradition, on 6 May 2015. It was an honour not only to attend this event but also to take part in the poster competition between 41 postgraduate research students. It gave me the opportunity to present my poster to people from different research fields, helping me to improve my presentation skills. Following the event, I was welcomed to two helpful workshops for postgraduate researchers. To celebrate the hard work and dedication of both researchers and staff, we all headed to the Crowne Plaza hotel for the remarkable Gala dinner. During the night, the winners were announced. I was honoured to be awarded the best poster award and had the privilege to collect my award from Mr Ed Parsons, a Geospatial Technologist at Google.
Throughout my weeklong stay in Nottingham I was graciously hosted at Cripps hall guesthouse. During and outside of the showcase, I had the honour to meet with a number of academics and students. I had the privilege of meeting with Professor Andy Long, the Dean of Engineering department, who inspired me to continue my research and not to give up during tough moments. Dr Rachel Gomes, of the Chemical and Environmental Engineering department, was also kind enough to offer valuable advice regarding my field of research. Furthermore, Professor Nicholas Warrior kindly took me to his lab to meet his Polymer Composites Research Group showing me all different facilities and equipment that they have, which for me was a dream come true. Additionally, I need to sincerely thank Professor Warrior for kindly arranging an eye-opening visit to the UK National Composites Centre in Bristol. During this unique visit, in which Ms Ffion Martin showed me around, I had the chance to observe the industrial application of my current project.
I would like to thank both the University of Nottingham Malaysia campus and UK campus for providing me this opportunity, which has instilled in me confidence in both my abilities and in my work. Furthermore I would like to express gratitude to all of the individuals who made this incredible trip possible, especially Mr Abdollah Ketabchi (my dad), Professor Graham Kendall, Professor Ian Harrison, Dr Mohammad Khalid Siddiqui, Dr Salman Masoudi Soltani, Ms Yogeswary Arumugam, Ms Donna Astill-Shipman, Mr Matt Neville, Mr Samuel Jackson, Mr Alistair Johnston, Mr Morteza Ketabchi.
MOHAMMAD REZA KETABCHI
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