Scouting volunteer graduates

Owen JonesOwen Jones, 21, from Redditch, Worcestershire graduated with and MEng Electronic Engineering degree after an ‘amazing’ four years.

Owen’s grandparents met whilst they studied at Bangor University, and the family often spent their holidays in north Wales, so choosing to study at Bangor was quite natural.

Owen said: “I’ve always been quite technically minded – as a child I often had to be retrieved from under tables and behind shop counters where I’d following wires to see what they led to. At school, maths and science were my strongest subjects, and I had a habit of taking apart nearly every electronic device I could lay my hands on. When it came to choosing what to study at university, electronic engineering was the natural choice.

“During my studies I was heavily involved with BUGS, the student Scout/Guide society, being a member for all four years I was in Bangor and chairperson for the last two. As well as being a good social group and helping people carry on being involved in Scouting/Guiding at university, the society also provides large amounts of support for Guide and Scout groups all across north Wales, and I’m really proud to have been part of it. 

“The highlight of my studies was winning the WE Williams Prize in second year – I’d put a lot of effort into my studies that year so I could move up to the MEng course, so it was really great to have that recognised.

“My final year MEng group project involved working with Siemens in Llanberis, developing a process they could possibly implement for automating inspection of batches of thousands of glass vials. It was interesting to be able to visit their facility, and experience engineering with much more of an industrial emphasis.”

“In September I will be starting a PhD in Communications at Bristol – I really enjoyed my third year research project in this area, so that has been a big driving factor in looking for post-graduate study opportunities. After this who knows... I’d really like to continue working in research though!”

Publication date: 14 July 2016