Charlotte Owens - ICE QUEST Technician Scholarship Award winner
The QUEST Technician Scholarship for 2009 was awarded to Charlotte Owens. Currently working for Mouchel whilst studying for her HNC in civil engineering, Charlotte found the time to apply for the Technician Scholarship award and won. Charlotte has found that the prize money is a great help with her travel costs and found that the award has given her more than just funding.
What is your name?
Charlotte Owen
Tell us a bit about your background; where & what you are studying
GCSE's (7 A's, A*, B) , A Levels (2 A's, B) and currently studying a HNC in civil engineering at Wolverhampton University with a view to continuing to degree level. This is supported by continual professional development in my workplace, Mouchel.
If you are working whilst you are studying tell us a bit about where you are working
I work for Mouchel in the Shrewsbury office as a trainee technician. My workload includes designing, maintenance schemes for the local authority which incorporates highway, structural and traffic engineering.
Why did you apply for the QUEST Technician Scholarship?
I wanted to have the opportunity to expand my horizons within the civil engineering industry. When I saw the advertisement for the QUEST Scholarship I was eager to apply as I knew the recognition for it would be beneficial to me.
What were you hoping to achieve with your course?
I want to gather the maximum amount of knowledge possible from my course to aid me in my goal to becoming an excellent civil engineer.
How do you think getting this scholarship will/ has helped/changed you?
I do a 140 mile round trip once a week to get to the university during term time so the money has helped with the cost of travelling.
My workplace has been very enthusiastic about the award and have publicised my success within the company. The award gave me a confidence boost which has helped me a lot in my workplace. I've also found that my colleagues have a lot of confidence in my abilities now that I have this award.
Do you think that your scholarship will help you in your imminent civil engineering career?
It is clear to see that the scholarship is already helping me. I had a rare opportunity to tour the regional control centre for the active traffic management in Birmingham because of the award.
I know the scholarship will help me as it links me with the highly regarded institute of civil engineers.
What advice would you give to someone else who is thinking about applying for the Technician Scholarship?
I'd say go for it! I'd only been working in civil engineering for 10 months and didn't think that I had the experience or knowledge to be awarded the scholarship.
The interview alone was a great experience as I got the chance to discuss lots of topics linked to the industry and it stretched me so that I could see my own potential. It's also important to understand that the award is for those who the ICE believes are going to be great engineers of the future, meaning you don't have to be great at the moment but you do need to demonstrate that you have the enthusiasm to go a long way.
When I heard I'd been awarded the scholarship it provided me with an enormous confidence boost within my job and University work. The belief that I have now developed in myself, because of this award, comes through in my day to day work and studying. The scholarships are an excellent idea for furthering young people in the industry at an early stage in their careers.