My name is Rishika Fernando and I am a graduate of the course BSc. (Hons) Aircraft Maintenance Engineering. I started my course at USW Dubai in 2019 as I resided there with my family. After that, as we were given the opportunity to transfer to the UK campus, I decided to travel to the UK and continue the rest of my course there. With the help of the international student advice team, I was able to make the transition from the Dubai to the UK campus very smoothly. 

Since my childhood, I always wanted to pursue a career in Aviation. Therefore, when I was going through careers related to aviation and I found out about Aircraft Maintenance Engineering. As I was researching universities offering courses related to aircraft maintenance, I came across USW.   

Unlike other universities, USW offers an accelerated route to attain the engineering license in two years and the course could be completed in three. This meant I could do the EASA, CAA, and GCAA license exams alongside a bachelor's degree. I chose to do this course because it definitely ticked off all the boxes for everything I wanted to achieve. Besides that, I felt as though by completing the course I would be setting myself in a better position compared to other Junior aircraft maintenance engineers would be graduating from other universities. 

My favourite memory was the first day that I got to do practical work. As a first timer who got to work on an aircraft, I was fascinated, excited, and grateful to carry out some practical tasks there.  

My reaction to first meeting the lecturers and getting the opportunity to use the tools and facilities that are available at USW was: "This is AWESOME and SO COOL". We were also taught by highly experienced industry professionals, and they made sure we got an industry-like experience during each practical class which was an invaluable opportunity.