Lucía Vázquez Vaquero – MA Design: Products and Furniture

Why did you decide to do postgraduate study?

Since I had studied Engineering for my undergraduate degree, I wanted to explore a more creative approach to Product Design before joining the job market by developing my creativity, my sketching and my prototyping abilities – as well as exploring my passions in a bit more breadth and depth. Additionally, I really enjoy learning, so I did not feel like I was done with education quite yet.

What made you choose NTU?

I had been to Nottingham a few times before and I had loved the city – when it came to location the choice was quite straight forward. Course wise, it turns out there are not that many universities in the UK offering master’s courses in Product Design, and from those who did, I liked the curriculum and the look/feel of NTU the most.

NTU is generally renowned for its creative courses as well, which was an added bonus. Lastly, being eligible for a scholarship helped me decide too, as getting the bursary would be a big relief economically.

What do you enjoy most about your course at NTU?

The freedom to choose my own projects and explore the topics I am the most interested in. I also thoroughly enjoy the studio culture – having our own studio space to work, share ideas, show our projects and socialise in.

The people in my course are amazing and I love being able to spend time with them and work alongside them. We all come from different academic backgrounds so there is a lot to learn from each other. Our studio feels like home, which is extremely comforting.

What do you think about the course staff? How do they support your learning and University experience?

As postgraduate students, we see our tutors and lecturers one-to-one very often. They support us closely and always make sure we are on the right track, which is very helpful given the workload.

What do you think about the facilities available to you?

They are great! The workshops have everything we could possibly need and the fact that we get our materials supplied by the university is very helpful. The library is fully stacked with books on every topic you can imagine as well. As I mentioned earlier, I love having a studio space just for our course. Besides the academic facilities, the sport venues are wonderful too – I train in Clifton once a week and I am very pleased with the resources there.

Have you been awarded a scholarship? How did you gain this and how has it helped you?

Yes – an EU Postgraduate Scholarship. It was a simple online process during which I had to submit an application consisting on a few questions about my achievements. It has helped me feel supported, economically and personally.

What has been your greatest achievement at NTU so far?

I am on the brink of completing our first group project, which I am very excited about. It has been great but also a lot of hard work, so I am very proud of ourselves for achieving the results we were hoping for. I am also really happy I got into the Women’s 1st Volleyball team – it is an amazing experience to be part of a sports club in NTU! I would totally recommend it.

Find out more about our MA Design: Products and Furniture course