Postgraduate profile: MSc manufacturing systems engineering

Virendra Singh Sohal's MSc in manufacturing systems engineering has opened up an international career.

When I was a child in India, my father and grandfather both worked in a large steel manufacturer near our house. I was always fascinated by the way it coloured the sky red when the steel was cast in the evenings and grew up wanting to learn more about the industry. I  took a bachelors degree in production engineering and spent my sandwich year on an engineering training programme. I subsequently chose to do a masters rather than a PhD because I wanted to gain an overall knowledge of the sector rather than focus on one subject in depth.

My course

I took modules such as automation and robotics, manufacturing process technology, project management and operations strategy. The course covered all the basic concepts of manufacturing systems as well as management in engineering. There was a mixture of seminars and lectures and we were given many opportunities to give our own presentations.

It was a huge challenge to learn so much in such a short span of time. There was a continuous assessment programme as well as one final major project at the end of the year. I was able to make good use of the strong relationships between the university and outside employers, resulting in a job offer from a major steel producer in the UK that starts next year.

International education

The best thing about doing postgraduate study was talking to the wide variety of students. Having lived in India most of my life, this was an amazing opportunity to mix with people from all over the world - it was like the United Nations! We were also taught by consultants from all over Europe who shared their experiences with us about the economy and the manufacturing world.

There are so many valuable resources available to postgraduates such as machinery, equipment and books - students should come forward and explore the developing industry of engineering. The automotive courses are becoming more and more focused on the environment: there is a real opportunity to help make the entire planet greener.

Virendra studied his MSc in manufacturing systems engineering at the University of Warwick.