The day aimed to introduce the twenty Scholars to their donors and explore the future career and employability opportunities available to them. The visit was also an opportunity to celebrate the success of previous scholars and alumni who now work for the Group.
The students then visited our Morson Group Head Office to meet with Founder, Ged Mason and representatives from the Mason family to thank them for their extraordinary generosity and honour Gerry’s legacy.
Ged Mason OBE, CEO of the Morson Group said:
“Each year we see a new cohort of Gerry Mason Scholars come through, and I know that my father would be incredibly proud to see the next generation of engineers develop their careers. Seeing their progress is inspiring and over the past six years, we’ve seen Scholars graduate and go to work across the whole engineering industry which makes our family proud. Some of our graduates have even gone on to work within our own business at Morson Projects which is great to see.
“Inviting our current Scholars to visit the business and showing them some of the career paths open to them is an important step in helping them plan out a career in engineering once they graduate – not to mention it’s great to meet them, hear their stories and see how the scholarship has helped each of them.”
Ronak Rasouli, a Computer Science student in her third year of study, spoke during the afternoon about the scholarship:
“I’m doing my final year in Computer Science and Data Analytics and I’m so proud to be here. As a recipient of the Morson Scholarship, I’d like to thank the Mason family and Morson Group for awarding me this scholarship. I was very excited when I found out I had been selected and I am honoured to be a part of this legacy Gerry Mason had established in 2015. I am appreciative of your supporting my education.
“Morson Group’s scholarship has brought me peace of mind and happiness to my studies and encouraged me to be motivated and maintain mental and physical wellbeing during the pandemic. My main aim is to graduate and work as a data scientist in one of the prominent companies in the UK, the Morson Group
“I would like to take the harvest of my education to work in your company, to serve it back to those who supported me in my hardship. Finally, I would like to thank you on behalf of my fellow scholars for these incredible scholarships, our dream could become a reality at the University of Salford with your astonishing gift. We would love to thank you for encouraging us and caring for our futures through our scholarships which reflect on your company’s values – courage, curiosity, care and collaboration.”
Usaid Khan is in his second year studying Aircraft Engineering with Pilot Studies. He discussed how his initial uncertainty about his career journey has been aided by the scholarship:
“I don’t exactly come from a rich background, my parents emigrated here 16-18 years ago. When I was growing up, I didn’t have any idea what I wanted to do. I bounced from one place to another deciding what I wanted to do and the subjects I wanted to study. I was originally going to go into pharmacy, which I didn’t want to do. When I got into the whole engineering concept and found out about this degree and I got into Salford University; I started the course, I started flying and everything was going smoothly. But there was a point where I was spending more time working to help my family. My mum and dad are retired and I was spending around 60 hours a week working and I didn’t have enough to pay for my education.
“Obviously, I applied for the scholarship and had no faith I was going to get it, there was hundreds of people applying for it and that makes it so special. I got it and it was a huge, huge relief and that in turn helped me get a first in my first year of university and hopefully with the help of the scholarship and the help of you, I can get a first and hopefully work for you one day!”
“The Mason family and Morson Group are generous donors to the University of Salford and have created many life-changing projects that have contributed to the success of our students and graduates, the scholarship programme being one of many. The Gerry Mason Engineering Scholarship was launched by the late Morson Group Founder in 2015 with the vision of inspiring future engineers.”
Joe Sweeney, Dean of the School of Science, Engineering and Environment said:
“We are proud to have a long-standing relationship with the Morson Group and one that is continuously evolving to help young people achieve their ambitions. The scholarships have supported more than 40 students since it launched with industry visits being an important element of the journey.
“As well as financial support, the scholarships provide the students with mentoring opportunities, placements, and that all important contact with industry – all of which helps enhance student employability.”