A West Cumbrian graduate has presented her ideas for nuclear at a major international conference.
Aisling Mattinson, a graduate of Lakes College at Lillyhall, near Workington, took to the stage at an international telecommunications forum in Serbia, to present her dissertation paper to industry experts.
The paper proposes a new wireless air monitoring system to replace the current nuclear infrastructure at sites across Cumbria.
Aisling, now an electrical engineer at Jacobs, completed a BEng (Hons) electrical engineering degree at Lakes College.
She said: “I currently work on CE&I projects for a nuclear site and I wanted to propose a project which could potentially bring improvements to the site, specifically including CE&I and nuclear.
“My mentor Meftah Medawi contacted me to say that the paper had been accepted for publication and I had the opportunity to present my research paper at the 30th Telecommunications Forum in Belgrade.
“This was funded by my company Jacobs and was an amazing experience and opportunity. Public speaking is my worst nightmare so I was extremely nervous in the build up to it; however, on the day my nerves went once I was in the room and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The feeling after presenting was amazing.”
Aisling’s studies at Lakes College helped her to progress from her previous role as a CE&I designer.
She added: “I found the jump between the HNC/HND to the degree huge and there were elements of the course I really struggled with; however, the staff at the college went the extra mile to offer support throughout and always kept me motivated.
“Upon completion of my dissertation, my supervisor encouraged me to carry out further work and aim to produce a published paper.
“This work continued for a further 11 months and my tutor Meftah offered his support throughout as well as giving up a lot of his free time to assist me in my studies.
“This course provided me with knowledge but also confidence which has helped me in my career as I had to push myself out of my comfort zone – for example, presenting my dissertation and then paper.”
Paul Fairclough, dean of higher education at Lakes College, said: “I am delighted that Aisling, one of our undergraduate electrical engineering degree students, has had her hard work and the quality of her dissertation recognised by an international audience.
“This is also recognition of the quality of project work that is being undertaken at the National College for Nuclear at Lakes College.”
