{"id":1448,"date":"2022-10-31T11:09:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T11:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/2022\/10\/31\/ahmed-on-the-integrated-foundation-year-a-great-transition-from-a-levels-to-university\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T12:07:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T12:07:34","slug":"ahmed-on-the-integrated-foundation-year-a-great-transition-from-a-levels-to-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/science-engineering\/2022\/10\/31\/ahmed-on-the-integrated-foundation-year-a-great-transition-from-a-levels-to-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahmed on the integrated foundation year: a great transition from A-levels to university"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Ahmed Omara joined The University on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchester.ac.uk\/study\/undergraduate\/courses\/2023\/12950\/beng-meng-electrical-electronic-and-mechatronic-engineering-with-an-integrated-foundation-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Electrical, Electronic &amp; Mechatronic Engineering with an Integrated Foundation Year<\/a> course. Read about his experience at The University of Manchester:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-medium is-resized is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/eee-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/09\/Ahmed-Omar-EEE.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/eee-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/09\/Ahmed-Omar-EEE-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Man outdoors in front of a body of water\" class=\"wp-image-1450\" style=\"width:241px;height:auto\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Meet Ahmed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hi Ahmed, thanks for taking the time to speak to us. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the course you studied?\u202f<strong>\u202f&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Hello there. My name is Ahmed Omara, and my course is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchester.ac.uk\/study\/undergraduate\/courses\/2023\/03927\/meng-mechatronic-engineering\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MEng Mechatronic Engineering<\/a> which is all about designing and creating control systems, robots, and products that make people&#8217;s lives easier and more efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why did you choose to study your course?\u202f\u202f&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I chose to study this course because of my passion in robotic systems and innovative systems. I enjoy control systems and programming as well as electronics and, as such, this course just seemed like the perfect choice for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why did you choose to do an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundation.se.manchester.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Integrated Foundation Year<\/a> and how did it prepare you for the rest of your course?\u202f\u202f&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignfull is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube alignright wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mechatronic Engineering at The University of Manchester\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tJkpTQqT35U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Discover Undergraduate Mechatronic Engineering<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I chose to take a foundation year as it felt like a great transition from my A-levels to university. It provided me with a good foundation for the later years of my study and provided me with a head start as well (essentially, starting from content I already know from A level, solidifying the basics and then going an extra step to prepare me for the later years which was very helpful in my university experience).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What has your university experience been like? What did you enjoy the most about your course?\u202f\u202f&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I have really enjoyed my university experience. From the teaching to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eee.manchester.ac.uk\/research\/facilities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the facilities<\/a> and campus itself, I really enjoyed everything. My favourite part was the active vibe felt around campus and the fact that the campus was integrated into the city, with multiple cultures and activities always around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What do you think of Manchester as a city? How is student life in Manchester?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I really like Manchester as a city. It is a very lively city with a lot of diversity. As a student, I really enjoyed my time at Manchester. Around The University, almost everything is available, from grocery shopping, takeaways, cafes to leisure centres and such. Also, the city centre is very close and the bus network is great. The university itself has many amazing spaces, such as the library, Alan Gilbert Building and the newly built Engineering Buildings which are great for my time as a student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Are you part of\u00a0any societies at The University?\u202f<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/eee-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/11\/Picture3.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/eee-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/11\/Picture3-777x1024.png\" alt=\"A small robot car\" class=\"wp-image-1516\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.7587853818570229;width:362px;height:auto\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Robosoc maze-solving robot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I am currently a part of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/manchesterstudentsunion.com\/activities\/view\/robotics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Robotics Society<\/a>, where I build and test robots for fun, either alone or as a part of a team, making exciting projects, such as a maze-solving robot or a battle bot. I am also a part of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/manchesterstudentsunion.com\/activities\/view\/chess\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chess Society<\/a>\u00a0where I play chess with other talented chess players and learn new skills. Finally, I am a part of\u00a0the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchesterisoc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Islamic Society<\/a>\u00a0where I meet and greet people and socialise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can you tell us a bit about your dissertation\/final year project?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>My final year project involved using a new platform called \u201cJulia\u201d to simulate robotic arms and pendulums, and then compare them to that of another well-established software called \u201cMaplesim\u201d. The aim of the project was to see if \u201cJulia\u201d could match the capabilities of \u201cMaplesim\u201d while being open-source, and the conclusion was the case, and sometimes \u201cJulia\u201d outperformed \u201cMaplesim\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See the images below for Ahmed&#8217;s 3rd-year dissertation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-tiled-gallery aligncenter is-style-rectangular\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__gallery\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__row\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:46.14708%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"3D diagram with no text\" data-height=\"854\" data-id=\"1513\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/eee\/2022\/10\/31\/ahmed-on-the-integrated-foundation-year-a-great-transition-from-a-levels-to-university\/picture1\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/eee-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/11\/Picture1.png\" data-width=\"972\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/eee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/11\/Picture1.png?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:53.85292%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"3D diagram with no text\" data-height=\"520\" data-id=\"1521\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/eee\/2022\/10\/31\/ahmed-on-the-integrated-foundation-year-a-great-transition-from-a-levels-to-university\/picture2-1\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/eee-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/11\/Picture2-1.png\" data-width=\"691\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/eee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/11\/Picture2-1.png?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">We hear that you are doing your Master\u2019s next\u00a0year. What made you choose a Master\u2019s course rather than a Bachelor&#8217;s?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There were multiple reasons that I chose a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchester.ac.uk\/study\/undergraduate\/courses\/2023\/03927\/meng-mechatronic-engineering\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Master\u2019s course<\/a> over a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchester.ac.uk\/study\/undergraduate\/courses\/2023\/03394\/beng-mechatronic-engineering\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bachelor\u2019s course<\/a>. Firstly, the course was integrated and as such came as an easy transition compared to a normal Master\u2019s course. Also, there are modules on the Master\u2019s course that I am very intrigued in, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchester.ac.uk\/study\/undergraduate\/courses\/2026\/03927\/meng-mechatronic-engineering\/#:~:text=Machine%20Learning%20%26%20Optimisation,Optional\">\u201cMachine Learning\u201d module<\/a>. Also, I have heard a lot of good things about the team projects, and I would gain a lot of skills from it, so it looked like an amazing opportunity to be a part of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">If you could give one piece of advice to students currently thinking about applying to university, what would it be?\u202fWould you recommend the Integrated Foundation Year?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I would look at more than the rankings and such of the university and look at the big picture. While The University of Manchester has an amazing ranking overall, it also has a lot of other benefits, such as the campus and livelihood, so I would recommend it. I would also advise you to have a read of the modules you will be taking and see if the course is for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides the course, I would recommend you try to balance your time at university so that you don\u2019t feel overloaded. If you manage your time correctly and do assignments early then you will find that you will have a lot of free time to do whatever you want, so make sure to plan ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would absolutely recommend the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.se.manchester.ac.uk\/study\/foundation-year\/\">Integrated Foundation Year<\/a>. Besides what I mentioned before about a smooth transition, it provides a nice and relaxing environment where you can decide on what you actually want to progress to \u2013 it is possible to change progression streams as long as there are spaces. I transferred from Mechanical Engineering to Mechatronic Engineering after careful thought and my experiences in the Foundation Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See the images below for Ahmed&#8217;s 1st and 2nd-year project build examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-tiled-gallery aligncenter is-style-rectangular\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__gallery\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__row\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:34.16723%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Small robot car viewed from directly above\" data-height=\"332\" data-id=\"1518\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/eee\/2022\/10\/31\/ahmed-on-the-integrated-foundation-year-a-great-transition-from-a-levels-to-university\/picture5\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/eee-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/11\/Picture5.png\" data-width=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/eee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/11\/Picture5.png?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"tiled-gallery__col\" style=\"flex-basis:65.83277%\"><figure class=\"tiled-gallery__item\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Two circuit boards connected by ribbon cable\" data-height=\"939\" data-id=\"1517\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/eee\/2022\/10\/31\/ahmed-on-the-integrated-foundation-year-a-great-transition-from-a-levels-to-university\/picture4\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.sites.se.manchester.ac.uk\/eee-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/11\/Picture4-1024x381.png\" data-width=\"2521\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/eee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2022\/11\/Picture4-1024x381.png?ssl=1\" data-amp-layout=\"responsive\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I have had many experiences throughout my time at university, and I have enjoyed my time here. Every year, I have had projects which challenged me, but overall were enjoyable. Besides my final year project, I really enjoyed the autonomous line following buggy project in second year which was a good consolidation of the skills I had gained on the course and provided an environment to nurture many skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Find out more about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundation.se.manchester.ac.uk\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Integrated Foundation Year<\/a> that Ahmed undertook and decide if its right for you too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ahmed Omara joined The University on the Electrical, Electronic &amp; Mechatronic Engineering with an Integrated Foundation Year course. Read about his experience at The University of Manchester: Hi Ahmed, thanks for taking the time to speak to us. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the course you studied?\u202f\u202f&nbsp; Hello there. My [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[352,365,514],"tags":[128,503,505],"class_list":["post-1448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fse-student-life","category-student-stories","category-undergraduate","tag-electrical-and-electronic-engineering","tag-industrial-experience","tag-student-experience"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ahmed on the integrated foundation year: a great transition from A-levels to university - Science and Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ahmed on the integrated foundation year: a great transition from A levels to university\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ahmed Omara joined the university on the Electrical, Electronic &amp; Mechatronic Engineering with an Integrated Foundation Year course. 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