Harper Adams University provides opportunity to make hobby into career

Posted 30 March 2017

A few years ago, William Ashton was repairing and improving machinery in his spare time, sometimes believing his skills weren’t useful.

Now he is a second year MEng Agricultural Engineering student. The 20 year-old from Leyburn, North Yorkshire, said: “Studying at Harper has made me realise my potential and has taught me how I can apply my knowledge and experience in ways that would be useful to commercial engineering companies.

“I’m also really appreciative to receive the Alamo–McConnel Scholarship this year. The financial support means that I can focus purely on my studies and enjoy my degree to an even greater extent.

“I was lucky enough to have received the McConnel scholarship previously, and so I know how much of a difference it makes to my studies.

“I’m looking forward to the second year design project. The challenge will be to design an autonomous ‘smart' harvester which will be selective and only harvest the ripe plants.

“This is an example of why I aspire to become an engineer. I have a personal interest in green energy and reducing our carbon footprint. By incorporating the latest sophisticated technology into already established products, such as agricultural machinery, we can increase the efficiency of the process massively. I believe that fully robotic machinery, utilising renewable energy, is in the not too distant future.

“I hope to become a chartered engineer in the future.”