Shazia Mughal

"Having always been interested in Science throughout school, I decided to study Electronics Engineering at university.  Seeing the massive growth in electronic gadgets, computers, mobile phones and so on, made me want to be a part of this fast moving industry in the future.  Living close to Manchester anyway, this was my first choice University as it is well known for having an excellent School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. 

I enjoyed my studies at Manchester; academic life was interesting, challenging and rewarding and also surprisingly social.  A good balance of theory and practical work, group or individual projects in every year and incentives such as scholarships for high exam results all helped me to stay focussed and work hard.  I particularly enjoyed the digital communications related lectures and labs.

The department put a strong emphasis on Industrial Experience and provided plenty of help in finding opportunities.  After my second year I spent a year as an Engineering Placement Officer with the Royal Air Force.  Although this had little ‘hands-on’ engineering and was more management orientated, I gained a vast amount of experience in terms of working in Industry - a good grounding for a career in any company. I observed how engineering is used in the wider world, enabling me to make a decision as to what specific kind of work I wanted to pursue in the future.  I also gained many soft skills; the whole experience was invaluable.

I continued to graduate with an MEng (Hons) in Electronic Engineering, and subsequently found a position with Broadcom as a Design and Verification Engineer.  Being a global company on the forefront of the communication industry, Broadcom seemed to be the perfect company for me to work in, and somewhere I could make a big difference.  I was given responsibilities from early on, and, having been with Broadcom as a graduate for 4 months now, I feel like a valued member of the team.  I believe that my degree overall, the final year team project and the experience gained in industry have all played a big part in achieving this."