Continuing learning process

Having spent five years ‘on the tools’ after completing a formal apprenticeship as a mechanical installation pipe fitter, his early career saw him refurbishing mechanical and electrical plant, systems, and plant rooms, in nursing homes and sheltered accommodation. Baljit Bhogal said: “I would always look at plantroom schematics and admire the engineer/ draftsman for designing such systems. I feel I am still learning something new every day, and have not stopped studying.” After leaving school and college, he studied for a City & Guilds in Mechanical Engineering Services in Plumbing & Gas as part of his apprenticeship, later embarking on a C&G 2330 course in Electrical Installation levels 2 & 3, and subsequently studying for both an ONC, and an HNC in Building Services, on day release. He recently completed a Building Services B.Eng degree at Coventry University, gaining a First Class Honours, and an award ‘for Sustainability’ from the University and the IET for his dissertation on ‘Improving the Efficiency of Ventilation Systems’. He plans to start an accredited MSc in Building Services next month ‘to achieve the academic requirements for Chartership’. Baljit Bhogal said: “Since joining WSP in 2007, I have worked on the North Staffordshire Hospital P21 and retained estate projects in Stoke, undertaking detailed design on a various buildings, including a new renal unit being built by Laing O’Rourke with a BREEAM Excellent rating, as well as on a project at the Clatterbridge Centre of Oncology on the Wirral. I am currently working on the Llandough Adult Mental Health Unit in Cardiff. “I first saw HEJ five years ago when my technical director gave me a copy. I have since read the magazine regularly. The IHEEM Journal helps young engineers and established professionals alike to increase their knowledge, and is highly informative.”