Welcoming online students to Aberdeen for graduation

Every year we welcome our online students to our historic Old Aberdeen campus to celebrate their graduation alongside classmates, family and friends.

It’s a pleasure to meet them in person, hear about their online learning journeys, acknowledge those who have supported them along the way, and learn more about their future aspirations.

Class of 2024

In Summer 2024, we met graduates who had travelled from London, Barbados, Qatar, USA, Canada, Jamaica as well as Aberdeen and the rest of Scotland. Find out more about their stories:

Changing careers

Bal Edmonds used our short course entry route to start her postgraduate studies and graduated with an MSc in Clinical Nutrition. She made the decision to change her career path from chemical engineering to nutrition after her kids went off to university.

Bal began her studies with a short course before committing to the full Masters degree. The short course route allowed her to study a degree in nutrition without having a biological sciences background. Following graduation, Bal is hoping to make the move into nutrition consulting.

Confidence boost

Melpomeni Kavga is now a Senior Marketing Director at Philips Healthcare after graduating with an MBA (Global). “I feel more skilled and confident than ever before. Completing my studies resulted in a quick promotion and generous salary raise. I am also approached by recruiters for high-responsibility roles in other companies. I don’t think this would be happening without an MBA.”

Meeting new friends

It’s always special to see online classmates meeting in person for the first time, and we loved meeting Asad and Manikandan who both studied MSc Oil and Gas Engineering.

Asad lives in Texas and Manikandan lives in Qatar, so it was great to capture a photo of them celebrating their hard work and friendship. Being part of an online community means you’re never far from support, motivation and tips from fellow learners.

Connecting with course tutors

Simone Chung was delighted to meet Dr Alan Sneddon, MSc Clinical Nutrition co-ordinator, after her graduation ceremony. Simone also talked to us about her online learning experience.

Moving to a new sector, flexibly

For Ben Hull-Bailey online study offered the flexibility he needed in terms of degree duration and managing his studies alongside childcare and family commitments.

After a 16-year career working for oil and gas operators, Ben’s MSc in Energy Transition Systems and Technologies helped him discover a new interest in hydrogen technologies. He’s now set up a consulting company to work on renewable energy projects, with a focus on hydrogen production and carbon capture and storage.

Renewable energy in Barbados

Antoine King was motivated to get back into studying by his hunger to learn more, develop himself, and contribute to developments in renewable energy in his home country of Barbados.

Antoine chose to study MSc Renewable Energy Engineering online as he was working full-time, so flexibility was key, and Aberdeen offered the best option to fit his learning needs. In his own words, completing his degree has “made him a better engineer”. When we met him on graduation day, Antoine was excited to be visiting Scotland for the first time along with members of his family.