
Tom Dornom
"I love Plymouth and the city centre. The self-contained campus makes it a great university with a fantastic coastline, lots of parks, and being on the doorstep to both the moors and Cornwall there’s so much to do."

"My dissertation aimed to investigate the processes and equipment used in the vaccine cold chain to determine where improvements can be made to reduce vaccine wastage. The largest sources of wastage occurred in the developing world in hot climates such as sub-Saharan Africa.
The cause was temperature excursions above and below the recommended vaccine temperatures of 2-8 degrees C rendering them ineffective and could be attributed to storing them in improper cold chain material.
For my research, I looked into methods that previously existed and their issues, I fixed on the single largest contributing issue and sought a way to improve it. I went through the engineering design process to produce a product that could theoretically fix the problem. In my case, it was a mechanical box that opened and closed at certain temperatures so that ice inside could cool the vaccine fridges down during a power cut. I devised a computational fluid dynamics simulation modelling it and ran tests alongside using some old fridges I bought from gumtree as validation for the system.
Completing the dissertation helped land me my current job, it was a huge talking point throughout the interview process."
Three key things that aided me in landing a job:
- The qualification that gives me the authority and proof I have been tested on an academic level to achieve in the field.
- A selection of varied projects that could be demonstrated in a portfolio to display the level of work I achieved.
- Computer-Aided Engineering skills: Solidworks certificated to prove my proficiency in one of the most, if not the most, important areas of design. Computation fluid dynamics and Finite Element analysis projects over multiple CAD packages.
Our school
The School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics is a friendly and exciting place to study. You will be taught by internationally recognised experts who are passionate about providing an excellent learning experience. Our researchers have been well known in the fields of structures, materials, and coastal engineering for many years.
You will join a community of approximately 100 staff and 2000 students; our graduates are eminently employable and we are proud of their contributions to society. Find out how your future could be shaped at the University of Plymouth.

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