Faith Bateman

Faith Bateman

The great thing about engineering is that it opens more doors than it closes. I wasn’t certain about what career I wanted to pursue, so an engineering degree appealed to me because I could use the skills I would learn in a diverse range of industries.

In essence I did not choose to be an electronic and electrical engineer; I chose a subject I found exciting, which would enhance my knowledge and give me a valuable degree.

It was the practical elements of the course at the University of Leeds that enticed me to apply, and the hands on experience helped me to cement the knowledge I gained in lectures and gave me a better idea of different ways I could use my degree.
The university has strong links with industry and thanks to this I obtained a summer placement with Ultra Electronics in London after my 2nd year. This experience gave me a taste of what a career in engineering would be like.

I am now undertaking a PhD and I am currently designing a microfluidic system to analyse immune interactions at the single cell level. This is an interdisciplinary endeavor which bridges engineering with cancer research. I was able to apply for my position thanks to my electronic and electrical engineering background and the ‘wet lab’ experience I gained during my MEng research project on molecular scaffolding.

Since graduating from Leeds, Faith has won the “Science, Engineering & Technology Student of the Year” award in the materials category at this year's Science, Engineering &; Technology Student of the Year Awards (SET Awards).