25/06/2020
George story - After growing up on a small family farm in Devon, I have always had an interest in agricultural machinery. My passion for the industry grew from the moment I started at Bicton College at the age of 16. I studied a Level 3 Extended National Diploma in Land Based Engineering from 2010 – 2013. This included a 12-month work placement. The tutors at Bicton helped me achieve my ambition of working for a main tractor franchise dealership, by giving me the necessary tools to be able to gain a work placement. Not only through being taught practical skills such as welding and engine rebuilding but theory-based tasks such as job interview skills. My most enjoyable time at Bicton was final year, where Bicton has the advantage of having many tractors students can work on to test their skills to the max. Modules such as electrical systems and diagnosis, using the latest diagnostic tools were certainly my favourites and enabled me to develop my skillset further ready for the workplace.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Bicton, living in halls of residence I made many new friends of which I am still in regular contact with today! There’s lots of extracurricular activities which you can and are encouraged to join which is certainly a good way to wind down. Having completed my course in 2013 with a D*D*D I went on to work for a further year at a tractor dealership, building up my practical skills further.
After which time, I decided I wanted to further my career and chase the dream of working for a manufacturer. Therefore, I chose to study a Bsc (Hons) degree in Agricultural Engineering at Harper Adams University in Shropshire. Harper Adams is very much like a much larger version of Bicton. Set within the grounds of a farm with other Land Based courses very similar to Bicton it seemed like the perfect place to study a degree level course. The courses are 4 years including a 12 month industrial placement where students can gain experience in any part of the industry from Service support roles to design and test placements and careers for various leading tractor and machinery manufacturers.
Having completed my first year, I applied to several manufactures and gained a three month summer placement with Kubota UK Ltd. Working within their busy Service department, I was involved in a variety of projects including an engine rework around the east coast of Scotland! I was then invited back to complete my placement year at Kubota and I haven’t looked back since!
During my placement year, the M7001 tractor had just been launched into the UK market. I spent most of my time supporting its entry into the market, assisting with training, dealer support and technical queries. It involved a lot of responsibility and travel within the UK which I really enjoyed, along with meeting and working with some great people. If you’ve got good technical knowledge and ability but don’t want to spend your career on the spanners this is definitely a move I would recommend
I graduated from Harper Adams in 2018 with a 2:1 honours degree in Agricultural Engineering. Upon completion Kubota put me on a 12 month development program. This included a 3-month secondment to the M7000 factory near Dunkirk in France. I was part of the factory Service department, dealing with technical issues from around the world and involved in the development of the next generation of tractor by participating in customer surveys. I really enjoyed being faced with different problems I hadn’t seen before and working to solve them.
Since October 2019 I am now part of the technical support team for M Series tractors (60-170hp), which involves investigating and reporting issues from the field and putting together our Service Training Programme for dealer technicians to attend during the winter and spring months. I am also responsible for 10 dealers Service activities, working alongside Service managers to improve their Service Business potential and dealer technician teams to resolve technical and customer issues. Although very demanding at times, it’s a fantastic job, and without the help and support I received from Bicton tutors during my time I wouldn’t be where I am today. I would 100% recommend the engineering courses at Bicton College for anyone that has an interest in Agricultural machinery.
