A profitable placement for Jeff

An industrial placement has proved invaluable for Teesside graduate Jeff Bean.

Jeff, 30, from Marton, Middlesbrough, completed a one-year salaried placement as a Junior Project Engineer for Vopak Terminals UK’s Seal Sands operation in 2008 after the first year of his BEng (Hons) Chemical Engineering degree.

Vopak agreed to pay Jeff’s University tuition fees for the remaining two years of his course. They also offered Jeff a part-time post during this period, the first time Vopak made such an agreement with a placement student.

The company then offered Jeff a permanent role as a Process Engineer at the end of his studies. Jeff graduates with a first class degree and also the Teesside Science prize and the Constantine Wright Scholarship.

'I would not have got this job without my degree. Jeff said: 'I would not have got this job without my degree. When Vopak offered to pay my fees and keep me on I was over the moon. The placement was a good experience in many ways, there was a wide range of people to learn from and one of the mechanical engineers also studied at Teesside so the University was well represented!'

Jeff returned to full-time education after a gap of nearly ten years. He left school aged 16 to start a retail career, progressing to management level. In his early 20s, Jeff sought a change of direction. He said: 'I thought I’d missed the boat when it came to education. I wanted to do something more with my life and the best way was to go to university. But I also needed to keep paying my mortgage.' Jeff combined 11 hour days as a retail manager with a two-year part-time access course at Stockton Riverside College. This led to the chemical engineering degree. Jeff is the first in his family to graduate from University and said: 'My ultimate goal was to get a First. I put a lot of pressure on myself to get it and am glad it came to fruition.'

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