{"id":1750,"date":"2025-02-10T09:00:54","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T09:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/?p=1750"},"modified":"2025-01-23T09:23:44","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T09:23:44","slug":"parade-profile-rafaella-antoniou-meng-mechanical-engineering-with-manufacturing-management-2018-phd-mechanical-engineering-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/2025\/02\/10\/parade-profile-rafaella-antoniou-meng-mechanical-engineering-with-manufacturing-management-2018-phd-mechanical-engineering-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Parade Profile: Rafaella Antoniou (MEng Mechanical Engineering with Manufacturing & Management 2018, PhD Mechanical Engineering 2023)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rafaella spent almost 10 years as a student at Bath, having graduated from her master\u2019s and continuing on to pursue a PhD in open-source hardware development research.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a Cypriot moving abroad for her studies, she quickly learnt how to be independent and self-reliant, and thrived in the University environment. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read her full story below. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Why did you choose to study at Bath?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I loved the city, the campus and the five-year MEng sandwich course.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Did you have a particular career in mind when you chose your course?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t have any particular career in mind, but I knew that I loved science and maths and wanted to work on practical, problem-solving projects. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Can you tell us about your experience of studying here?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I had an amazing experience studying at Bath, so much so that I stayed to do a PhD as well, totaling almost 10 years as a student at the University. Some of my favourite memories include the graduation ceremonies, the Summer Ball and spending long hours studying and hanging out with friends at the library. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In terms of the city, I love the Victoria Art Gallery, Henrietta Park and Alexandra Park. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Can you talk a bit about your PhD experience? What was your research focus?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My research focus was on open-source hardware development (OSHD) projects <\/span>\u2013<\/span> understanding what makes these kinds of projects successful as opposed to the more traditional closed-source hardware projects. Since it is an emerging field of research, I also spend time understanding the different types of OSHD projects that exist, as well as writing a guideline on how to increase the replicability of open-source hardware. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I had a fantastic experience with the University, not only due to the financial support I received, but also the incredible supervisory support and opportunities such as attending the Summer School on Engineering Design Research 2019 (SSEDR19) as well as conferences abroad. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, I also had the opportunity to work as a research assistant on an EU-funded project for two years, which was a brilliant experience in terms of both research and gaining professional skills.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How did your studies help you to develop, professionally and\/or personally? <\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My studies helped me become an independent thinker with strong problem-solving skills. I learnt how to work well under pressure and built a lot of resilience and self-trust along the way. As a result, this has made me a confident professional who thinks deeply and widely about problems, and values coming up with fit-for-purpose solutions. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, as a Cypriot moving abroad for my studies, I quickly learnt how to be independent and self-reliant; it\u2019s an experience I would encourage everyone to explore if they get the opportunity to do so!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Describe your career journey since graduating. What is a typical day like in your current role?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I have been working in technology consulting at Deloitte in Bristol since 2022. In this role, I help clients build fit-for-purpose digital solutions to either solve their most complex problems, or products to help them capitalise on new market opportunities. I mainly work as a product owner and business analyst, which means I spend most of my day speaking to people to better understand the problem at hand, identify requirements and help development teams build the right things to create brilliant user experiences. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After 11 years living in the Bath and Bristol area, I have taken the leap to move back home in Cyprus and have transitioned to Deloitte Cyprus as of January 2025. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What advice would you give to prospective students thinking about studying your course at Bath?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I would tell them not to think twice about it! It was a fantastic course that taught me a variety of skills; mechanical engineering is a degree that can take you into many different career paths that you may not have even heard of!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I would strongly recommend doing a placement year, as it offers a flavour of what it's like to work in industry. Last but not least, make the most of your time at university; study hard, make friends, join societies and have fun!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rafaella spent almost 10 years as a student at Bath, having graduated from her master\u2019s and continuing on to pursue a PhD in open-source hardware development research.\u00a0 As a Cypriot moving abroad for her studies, she quickly learnt how to...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1926,"featured_media":1751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[126,119],"tags":[197],"class_list":["post-1750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engineering-design","category-parade-profiles","tag-mechanical-engineering"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2025\/01\/Parade-profile-header-34.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1926"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}