Jonathan Tyrer, MSc Engineering Geology alumni

Jonathan Tyrer

Jonathan Tyrer is an alumni of the School of Earth and Environment’s MSc Engineering Geology degree.

After graduating

Following his graduation from Leeds in 2019 Jonathan was offered a Graduate Geotechnical Engineer position at Arup. The varied role involves geotechnical design for a variety of infrastructure globally and is based in the company’s Manchester office.

He is currently planning to work towards his chartership with ICE to become a Chartered Geotechnical Engineering.

Studying at Leeds

The increased demand within the engineering geology industry attracted Jonathan to the course and he chose Leeds due to it being ‘particularly well known’ and with ‘fantastic industrial links’.

During his Masters degree he completed an industry focused research project; “The research project gave me a great insight into the industry where I learnt valuable skills which I now use in my career, as well as good industrial contacts”.

Jonathan’s project was a numerical model of an underground tunnel excavation using a particular software. He undertook this project with an external company and it is now in the process of being published for a journal paper and a conference paper.

My Masters project has helped me a lot with the opportunity to publish my research and gain recognition

As part of the degree Jonathan was also encouraged to take part in a variety of external presentations with the School’s industrial partners which led him to securing a summer internship.

The summer internship was with a company call Strabag in which he worked on a tunnel construction for the Woodsmith mine in North Yorkshire, gaining valuable industrial experience which he could later use in his career.

It’s safe to say that during his year at Leeds Jonathan took full advantage of the School’s great industry links and the course’s ethos of promoting those links through project opportunities, networking sessions and industry-led seminars.

“The course is very industry focused and firmly prepares you for a rewarding career, with a very high employment rate after graduation. There is also a great employability team and companies that visit with potential graduate jobs available”