SHANIAH

Meet Shaniah, another amazing member of the team of students from St Ambrose working on the up and coming Pavement Project bringing Manchester Airport’s transport hub to life. 

Her passion for learning and for progressing. We got the chance to chat with her about what she is doing in and out of her studies...

What are you currently studying?
Maths, business and engineering. I got into the Platform Project through my business studies class.
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My favourite subject is engineering - that's what I want to do in future. Specifically, architecture or digital. I didn't really know what I wanted to do, but when I started that subject, I saw a new side of built environment and it's a great thing to be able to take part in.

What is your career plan?
I would like to do an apprenticeship after college, working with a high-end company. At the moment, I am working with Laing O’Rourke, a top construction company, every Thursday as a paid work placement. They were supposed to offer an apprenticeship but it fell through. They never did this before, but they created a work placement for me and two other students. So we get the chance to see different parts of the business, how each team member gets on, and what a real workplace is like. This is amazing, because I get to picture what I want to do in the future, and get real working knowledge while being paid for it. ​

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What was your reaction to being invited to take part in Platform?
I’ll admit I was very nervous. I kind of expected everyone else in the company to look down on me a bit because I was new. But no, everyone is really friendly! They know exactly where you are coming from, and want to help and share their knowledge. ​

What have you learned so far working with Platform?
When we started, we made a presentation for our bit of the company. Everyone was friendly and we were confident and laughing; it was good. We worked on things like Dean’s project b in Swinton, and signage projects for the Rice building, as well as site visits to St. Peter's Square. This is really good because that's what we are doing in our DEC class at college. It’s very rare for students to be allowed on site where building is in progress. ​

How did you feel at first about Platform?
When we got the offer, we all wanted to get straight into it as it's not something that comes along every day. It's a real life situation which involves working on a real thing with real people. Seeing something produced from your own words and thoughts is really good.

What is your specific role in the team?
Mostly designing, because I love being creative!

What are some of the things you have implemented from your studies?
What we have learned so far in DEC has been very helpful, because we use Revit every week, and we can bring that into the project. This helps us to create a model that we can send to the team. They checked it and said it was great. Not many people can do that.

What has been the best part of Platform so far?
Seeing how it turned out. For example, in last week's meeting with directors, we saw how it looked on the screen. We saw it when it was bare, and when it was filled with people. An idea became a real thing.

What were some of the biggest challenges?
Being involved as a whole team, especially when meeting deadlines. I get nervous when we go to important meetings at the airport with everyone asking big questions. It's about having the courage to speak out and tell them your thoughts.

What has been your biggest learning curve?
I have gained loads of confidence by meeting new people in business, including directors. Not everyone in college gets to do that and take part in something real. It really builds confidence as you are doing something different for yourself, taking yourself out of your comfort zone and getting your foot in the

How does it complement your studies?
I can put it on my CV. Working with Curricula and Co was cool because things can stem off from that, and it will benefit us in general because it gives us unique skills.


What do you like to do in your spare time?
I like to go swimming, and I have Revit at home, so I do that as a hobby. I also love drawing and doing art, and being generally creative.