Architecture students set for New York adventure
TWO Inverness College UHI graduates have secured life-changing paid internships with a global construction firm in America.
Jacob Simpson (22) and Andrew Ashburn (22) will spend a year working with Turner in New York, gaining invaluable engineering, architectural and administrative experience.
Both students are due to graduate from the BSC (Hons) Architectural Technology degree in September.
They were invited to apply for the internships along with other students from the third and fourth year of the University of the Highlands and Islands’ degree programme.
A selection were chosen to be interviewed by Turner via Skype before Jacob and Andrew were offered the engineering assistant posts. They start in February.
The internships were set up by the University of the Highlands and Islands’ Careers and Employability Team in 2013. Staff supported students through the application process, providing advice on personal statements, CV writing and interview skills.
Helen Anton, a careers and employability officer at the university, said: “Each year we work closely with the students to ensure they understand the process and are equipped with the skills to thrive in a highly competitive environment. This years’ students were well prepared and showed a real passion to succeed.”
Roddy Henry, acting principal of Inverness College UHI, said: “Turner is a prestigious company, which has earned international acclaim for innovative construction and its use of new technology. With 1500 projects on its books every year, this is a fantastic opportunity for Jacob and Andrew to gain invaluable experience and really make their mark. Competition is incredibly fierce for internships of this kind and it’s testament to them as students, and the course, which continues to go from strength to strength, that Turner wants them on their books. I am incredibly proud that Inverness College UHI is in a position to offer students like Jacob and Andrew an opportunity like this to develop their skills with such a global name.”
Jacob, who lives in Inverness, completed the HND in Architectural Technology before progressing on to the BSC (Hons) programme. He gained employment at the beginning of his final year with international architectural firm NORR, which has an office in Inverness, and is currently working on distillery projects and fish farm designs for the award-winning company.
“The course has been great, I’ve learned so much and it’s opened up opportunities – my lecturer Ross Cairns told me about the job at NORR, and then there is the internship with Turner, which is just incredible. They are a really big construction firm in North America, working on so many interesting projects. It’s not the kind of opportunity you would usually get, coming straight out of college or university. The contrast between what’s happening here and over in New York is stark, it’s going to be really interesting.”
Jacob, who redesigned Inverness Museum and Art Gallery for his Honours year project, was also Inverness College UHI’s Higher Education Student of the Year for Architecture.
Andrew started on the BSC (Hons) programme straight from Fortrose Academy. He had just started job hunting when he found out he had been accepted by Turner.
“I was dancing for about a day when I found out,” said Andrew, who lives in Munlochy. “Lots of people apply so it’s an amazing feeling to know you’ve stood out. It’s going to be really interesting as they have projects all over the place. The course has been really good, mixing lectures with ‘live’ projects and this is an amazing opportunities for students studying on it.”
‘Live’ projects students have worked on recently include a Homes for Heroes development in Inverness, a new shelter and experience centre for Loch Ness by Jacobite at Brackla, a control building for the West Link road project and a commercial building to revitalise Inverness Marina.