Students, staff and industry figures come together to celebrate successes at annual SCEBE Celebration event 

Glasgow Caledonian University recently held their annual SCEBE Celebration 2023 event, which gives students the opportunity to be celebrated for their academic achievements.

The event was attended by students, staff and representatives from industry organisations, who came together to celebrate the successes of students from across the school.

Students were presented with awards from both Glasgow Caledonian University and industry donors, ranging from Best Third Year Student through to industry awards and prizes from professional bodies.

Organisations such as technology firm Merck, Mediaspec and Sabio were amongst the group of industry donors and joined in celebrating the hard work of students from a number of different programmes.

Graduate Apprentice in Civil Engineering student Sarah Speirs, who has recently completed her final year, was delighted to have been awarded “Best Third Year Student” from her programme. She explained: “I feel over the moon to have won this award. It came as a bit of a surprise, but it gave me that momentum that I needed to go into my final year and put my all into it.

I really enjoyed my four years at Glasgow Caledonian, especially doing an apprenticeship as I had the chance to learn on the job as well. Looking back, I just can’t believe how far I’ve come and I’m really proud of my achievements.”

Working for engineering consultancy company Arcadis, Sarah feels confident to enter the world of work after a successful four years at University. She said: “It’s very much an all-rounder degree, so it’s covered all aspects of civil engineering and it allowed me to choose what I really want to specialise in going into the future.

I’ve got a really supportive network at Arcadis, so I have no doubt that they’ll look after me.”

Joining Sarah on the list of awardees was Computer-Aided Mechanical Engineering student Joao Vasconcelos, who is set to graduate in July. He explained: “I was shocked to have received the award, to be honest! Funny story actually; when the email first came through to tell me that I had won, I thought it was a spam email! It was definitely a nice surprise.

I’ve just submitted my dissertation, so to do that and receive this award in the same week is a great feeling.”

Joao feels especially proud to have been presented with the award of Best Third Year Student, which has made him feel more confident about his abilities. He said: “It’s definitely given me more confidence. When you’re a student, I don’t think you realise what you’re about to go into or how good you actually are in comparison to your peers. Receiving an award like this has really emphasised that I am actually capable.

If I could give advice to my first-year self, I would say just to relax and to enjoy it all a bit more. I did find it a bit stressful at first, especially being in first year where you don’t really know what’s around the corner. I’m the first person in my family to go to university, so it was a bit daunting to start but now I want to look back and say ‘enjoy every moment’.”

You can read the full list of awardees here

By Rachael McAlonan

Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media here