Fourth student awarded the Koura Alasdair Sinclair Scholarship

The University of Manchester has announced Jack Fearon as the fourth student to receive Koura’s Alasdair Sinclair Scholarship.

The scholarship was set up in 2017 in memoriam of Alasdair Sinclair, a Senior Mechanical Engineer who had been an integral part of the Koura team for over 27 years. Alasdair Sinclair’s sudden passing in December 2015 had a huge impact on his colleagues, who worked closely with his family to develop this scholarship in his honour.

Previous students who have also been awarded the scholarship include Melissa Pace, Sikandar Zaheer Rana and Hashim Hamid. Melissa is studying MEng Mechanical Engineering with Industrial Experience and is set to graduate in 2023, whereas both Sikander and Hashim are studying MEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering, on track to graduate in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

The scholarship offers £2,250 per academic year to the selected student to support them with living costs and course materials. Scholarship students also get the chance to undertake a work placement at Koura’s Cheshire-based plant, where they can gain hands-on experience across operations, engineering, manufacturing, mechanical and maintenance.

Jack said: “Engineering has always been something I knew I would get into, despite my initial interest in architecture. I love how varied the field of mechanical engineering is, and how when someone asks you “what does a mechanical engineer do?” there’s never a straight answer. Even now I’m not completely sure what field I am interested in, but I am hoping that whilst I complete different modules in university, something will jump out at me. I’ve always had a childhood dream of going into space, so being able to be a part of something like that would be unreal. I’m also interested in renewable energy and electric cars, especially since we know those markets will only grow with time so we’ll never be short for ideas or innovation within the field.

For me personally, though, I think the exposure I will get to the engineering world thanks to this scholarship will be the biggest and most invaluable benefit. Being able to have an internship and the opportunity to network with other engineers in the industry will be an amazing asset for me. Establishing professional connections at such an early age can only be a good thing for me as I move through my degree and later life.”

Janet Sankey, Site Manager at our Rocksavage plant, said: “We’re delighted to announce that Jack Fearon has been selected as our fourth recipient of the Mexichem Alasdair Sinclair’s scholarship.  Jack is studying for an MEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering with Industrial Experience, and will be graduating in 2025. Jack was judged to be an exceptional candidate during the University of Manchester’s selection process. The scholarship celebrates the hard work and dedication of our former colleague, Alasdair, by selecting talented individuals and helping them develop into exceptional engineers of the future.’’