Zeshaan Iqbal

Zeshaan Iqbal graduated from the University of Leeds in 2017 with a 1st class honours MEng degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering with Nanotechnology (Industrial). He is currently working at Network Rail as an Electrical Engineer whilst pursuing a part-time degree in Rail Systems and Engineering at the University of Birmingham.

Undergraduate life at Leeds

Zeshaan grew up in a place of low levels of progression into Higher Education therefore, he didn’t have many guiding stars to navigate himself through to University and beyond. He said, “My grandparents came from a poor farming background from a village in Kashmir and had arrived in the UK to work in factories and mills. My parents migrated to the UK at a young age and worked simple jobs to get by. Although they didn’t make it to University they knew that being educated is one the most valuable things you keep with you throughout your life, so they supported my studies the best they could to ‘make something of myself’ and not fall into a life full of unskilled or intensive labour work.”

He added, “I always wanted to be an Architect or an Engineer but as a young boy I never really knew what that was, or how broad of an industry it is. That’s why I feel it is important for youth to experience as much as they can early to find inspiration.”

“When I started university, I was out of my comfort zone. University felt like an unfamiliar environment as I was interacting with different people but that soon phased out as people were very welcoming and were also in the same position and so it became easier to establish new friendships. I found the work to be difficult to start with because I had no prior experience, but after establishing study groups and learning how to learn, I became a successful graduate.”

I always wanted to be an Architect or an Engineer but as a young boy I never really knew what that was, or how broad of an industry it is. That’s why I feel it is important for youth to experience as much as they can early to find inspiration.  

Final year project

Zeshaan’s proudest moment was seeing his final year project completed. “I explored the use of micro and nano fabrication techniques to fabricate a range of thin-film microelectrodes for neural sensing and stimulation which are to be used in biomedical applications. The work was based on a collaboration between the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering. The progress made will contribute to research in motor neuron related disorders such as Parkinson's Disease and ALS. I was initially awarded an EPSRC Research Grant to carry out the work as a Summer Internship at the University, following the great prospects of my work I carried it through to the final year, it was also awarded a grant of £350,000 for post-doctoral research.”

Clubs and societies

“I participated in many cultural and faith events ran by societies whilst at my time at University and through that, I made a lot of friends from organising charity fundraisers, games competitions, and parties. I also became a course representative, representing the views or any issues that students were facing during their studies to make changes to teaching styles and course structure. I also discussed with students issues of intercultural integration and what we could do to break stereotypes or barriers to unity.”

Building a career

Zeshaan did a placement year during his degree programme and it really prepared him transition into the working life. He said, “I would recommend doing so if the opportunity arises. I found what Engineering was really like, the type of work I would enjoy and the type of work to stay away from. I wanted a variation of work inside and fieldwork as I did not want to be bound by the office desk. I struggled at the start of the placement year as the work culture there was different from what I had expected, but then that helped me make an informed decision about the type of company I would like to work for after graduation.”

“I am currently working as an Electrical Engineering with Network Rail, the UK’s railway infrastructure maintainer. My role has varied a lot since I joined due to the various rotations and projects I have been involved in. Some of my duties have included delivering traction power to overhead line equipment and signalling power to railway equipment; Utilising smart technologies in electrical equipment placed in remote locations to make data driven decision making and leading the electrical control team to design and build a train to compete in the IMechE Railway Design Challenge 2019. I am also currently studying a Rail System and Engineering degree at the University of Birmingham on a part-time basis.

Advice and tips

“Ask yourself what you want to achieve? What impact do I want to have? What will be my legacy? And whatever you imagine, find a way to facilitate that, stepping closer as time goes on. It’s important to realise University, Industry or any opportunity should be a stepping stone to reach your aspirations. If you can give back to society or the less fortunate then that will give you great fulfilment.”