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The Panasonic Trust Fellowships
James Davies – MSc in Geotechnical Engineering Design & Management, Nottingham Trent University
 From
October 2006 to October 2008 I studied a part time MSc at Nottingham Trent
University. The course, Geotechnical Engineering, Design and Management, was
ideal for me as I was able to develop academically and stay in full time
employment with Ground Engineering Limited, a site investigation contractors
and consultancy based in Peterborough.
My employer provided half the funding for the course
fees and I was delighted to secure the remainder from the Panasonic Trust. I
am very grateful to both my employer and the Panasonic Trust for their
financial support.
Each module of the MSc comprised four days of lectures
given at weekends or on Thursdays and Fridays. The majority of learning was
undertaken through self study and supplemented by material available from
the University website and library. I remained in employment throughout the
course as a Project Geotechnical Engineer undertaking site investigations
and compiling site investigation reports for a variety of clients, both on
site and in the office.
Spending evenings and weekends studying whilst working
the rest of the week did become stressful, particularly through the latter
stages of the course when completing my dissertation. However I remained
focused by scheduling coursework tasks, exam revision or parts of the
dissertation and meeting each target bit by bit. Luckily my wife and family
provided moral support throughout and I remained motivated by thinking of
the benefits completing the course would bring me such as progressing my
career, giving me a greater depth of understanding in geotechnical
engineering and improving my confidence in this field. One drawback was that
I had little time for socialising but luckily my friends understood why.
The course proved to be highly valuable, providing
insight into more recent developments that will affect Ground Engineering
Limited. Most notably a module in Site Investigation included lectures in
presenting AGS formatted data using Holbase, describing soils and rocks in
accordance with Eurocode 7 and recent developments in static cone
techniques. A module on Foundations and Ground Improvement included guest
lecturers from Stent who spoke on developments in piling and pile design.
My chosen topic for the dissertation was Window Sample
and Cable Percussion Rig SPT Comparability. This correlated standard
penetration test results between both types of rig within various geologies.
I collected my own data for SPT calibration using a pile driving analyser,
enabling the correction of SPTs (N60) to the efficiency of the hammer drop
mechanism in accordance with the relatively new practice detailed in BS EN
ISO 22476:2005, revised 2007.
I completed my masters and received a
distinction in October 2008, having gained a 78% average across
the course modules, including 84% for my dissertation. Soon
after, I was promoted to Senior Engineer and my responsibilities
grew, including supervision of more junior engineers while
ensuring ground investigations and reports completed within
budget, on time and to the high quality expected of our company.
I am currently aiming to become a Chartered Geologist and will
apply later this year.
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