Supporting the future – Rob Morgan graduates

Supporting the future

We are a big believer in the power of upskilling and personal development. As the Geosense team grows in skill and experience, so does our ability to meet client’s requirements and provide the best products and services.

Geosense is now part of the Indutrade group of companies, and a key part of their ethos is being people-centric, especially around training and personal development. We have supported a number of our workforce in obtaining qualifications within their field.

Today we talk to Rob Morgan and ask him about his personal development journey since joining Geosense, as well as chat with West Suffolk College where he took his educational path. He has gone from someone with, in his opinion, disappointing A-levels to the Mechatronics Technical Lead with a first-class degree in Engineering and part of the senior leadership team at Geosense.

How do you feel about completing your BEng in Mechatronics, Electrical and Electronics Engineering and what do you love about this subject?

“Pride, something I didn’t think I would ever do, mixed with a bit of relief that it is finally done. Most important for me was the achievement and knowledge gained throughout, not the qualification itself.

I have always enjoyed figuring things out, how systems work, and understanding the complete picture of something. The degree has given me a well-rounded mix of Mechatronics, Electrical and Electronics Engineering which helps in what we do at Geosense. A lot of what we do in development work involves all these aspects to build a complete product.”

Why not University straight away, tell me about that story?

“I struggled at A-levels. I think the style of teaching did not help my way of learning in a lot of the lessons, but it was my biology teacher who was inspirational and took the time to teach me in a way that I understood. This led to me getting my best A-level in the subject and applying to study Marine Biology at university. But I lacked the belief I could do it at degree level and I wasn’t 100% sure whether that was the career path I wanted to go down.

On A-level results day 8 years ago I went to a Jobs fair at the college (where I ultimately studied) with my mum and started chatting with John and Phil from Geosense, who are still with the company. They were not specifically looking at recruiting for Engineering roles, but next thing you know I was emailing them to have a look around. I’m thankful to my parents to this day for pushing me into giving it a go, along with supporting me throughout my studies. I came in as a research technician, testing and writing reports. Very soon I was building up my knowledge base.”

Tell me about how the sponsorship at Geosense came about and how you were supported?

“We work in such a niche industry I did not know about anything before I started but John and Joji (the engineering manager at the time) must have seen something in me to put me forward for sponsorship. I did want to try again for university and once I became more confident in my role, I sat down with Joji to discuss further training. We mapped it out and took one step at a time starting with a Higher National Certificate in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the local West Suffolk College.

I was fortunate to be able to study locally at the West Suffolk College with a day each week dedicated to this by Geosense. Additionally, a lot of my peers dropped out after the HNC, as their companies only sponsor people for one qualification but I was grateful that Geosense sponsored me throughout, from the certificate to the Higher National Diploma to the BEng in Mechatronics, Electrical and Electronics Engineering.”

West Suffolk College

“It was a real testament to the high standard of teaching at West Suffolk College over the 6 years there that I went from nearly failing in A-level maths to getting a distinction in my Maths modules, and in each of the full qualifications. I am more of a visual learner and having lecturers who really explained things in this way in more detail, along with being able to apply the knowledge to real-world problems contributed to my success.

Some of this teaching was also during Covid and I remember a lecturer doing Whiteboard lessons from his Kitchen, holding the board up on his shoulder. A strange time for all, even more so to be teaching/learning, but a testament to the dedication of the lecturers. I also saw the expansion of the college during this time with a dedicated STEM centre in place. Standing for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, I saw the STEM centre grow from a repurposed warehouse into the impressive learning hub it is today.”

Importance of STEM to the country

Martin Collen, Lecturer in Engineering/Module Lead on the B(Eng) degrees at University Studies at West Suffolk College commented:

“STEM is fundamental to our growth as a country, and we are doing our part at West Suffolk College by helping develop the next generation of innovators. It is important we engage with local STEM companies such as Geosense. We are proud of our Engineering provision here and it is great to see outcomes such as Rob’s first class (Honours) degree.”

The University Studies and Professional Development Centre consists of a state-of-the-art XR and VR Lab, specialist engineering teaching rooms, presentation space and spacious lecture rooms.

Penny Stevens, Interim Subject Lead of Creative Technologies and Business Management at University Studies at West Suffolk College supported Rob’s dissertation, and she commented on Rob’s time there and the wider industry and work placements offered:

“Rob engaged immediately with the Major Project module on the B(Eng) course.  He was required to develop a project proposal to support his project report.  When Rob presented his project in December it was evident that he could appreciate the linkage between the academic requirements and the professional context.  He very quickly researched his topic using a range of data sources including professional journals.

Rob was always receptive to my advice and used feedback given in a constructive and developmental way.  I supervised Rob throughout his project and it was pleasing to see that his diligence and hard work resulted in the achievement of an outstanding grade. Rob’s strength was his ability to research, to question and then to offer points of analysis and synthesis.”

Any advice Rob to people looking at their career options from the lessons you have learned doing this?

“I said to myself at the start “In six years’ time I am going to be six years older anyway, so I might as well have something to show for it and be proud of”. This motto was key to my success, along with remembering to enjoy the journey, not just focusing on the destination.

The main thing is taking the opportunity when given to you when it is the right time for you to take it. My grades did not define who I was going to be, everyone learns differently and being taught in a way that suited me helped me fulfil my potential.”

How have the education and role experience complimented each other?

“The different teaching methods and experiences during my education have given me a communication toolkit to explain complex tasks to other people in Geosense in different ways, I can switch methods according to who I am speaking with, which is a key skill when frequently interacting with different departments to achieve our goals.

Throughout the 6 years, totalling 42 assignments and 136,000 words, I have gained experience in how to present data, write and structure reports and importantly maintain accurate records so anyone can look back on them and learn.

My role has changed from coming into an industry I did not know existed to now managing a team of engineers. But the combination of education and 8 years on the job experience has allowed me to better support some very well-qualified people that work alongside me and think in terms of our wider business and the end objectives for our customers.”

How are you going to spend your time now that you are not in education?

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity and belief that Geosense has shown in me, I am looking forward to giving it back and continuing to apply what I have learnt in my work.

There is relief at finishing after six years, but great pride in what I can achieve, I want to continue developing myself and the engineering department to drive the company forward.”