Portland News
September 19, 2024
A moment of pride for the Portland team as our Civil Engineering Technician, Kieran Costello, has gained his Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering from the University of Teesside.
Kieran began life in Portland in 2016, joining via our well-established apprenticeship program. Working 4 days a week within the Civil Engineering team, and a day at Newcastle College, studying for his ONC in Construction Engineering. During his time in the office, he established himself within the Civils team through his strong work ethic and his keen focus on personal development.
Upon completing his ONC in 2018, Kieran, with strong encouragement and support from Portland, enrolled onto the part-time BEng course at Teesside, continuing to study 1 day a week. After 6 years Kieran completed his degree, graduating with a 2:1. One especially notable achievement was achieving an 81% score on his dissertation, which was on the topic on enhancing urban stormwater management through SuDS solutions.
Kieran’s journey is a testament to the benefits of our apprenticeship program as we look to prepare the next generation of skilled civil & structural engineers. Our approach of blending practical work experience with further education allows our apprentices to gain a valuable mix of industry experience and educational qualifications.
Lee Barr Managing Director said: ‘Congratulations to Kieran on achieving his degree, which is well deserved after 6 years of hard work. Kieran has a big part to play in the future of Portland and we’re looking forward to him continuing to develop as part of our close-knit team. Over the years we’ve seen many young people come through our apprenticeship program to become high quality construction industry professionals. It is greatly rewarding to enable pathways for our regions’ talented young people to get into the industry and inspire the next generation of engineers’.