Ariadni Michou

I am currently a graduate consultant in the development planning team at Aecom in the Birmingham office. I assist my senior colleagues producing key reports for new developments such as Transport Assessments, confirming sustainability of the areas near to the development and ensuring that the traffic, which the new development will generate, will not negatively affect the local traffic conditions of the existing network. I use key software such as AutoCAD, ArcGIS, PICADY, ARCADY and LINSIG. Furthermore, I advance my technical skills in microsimulation assisting in projects using the microsimulation model VISSIM improving the existing traffic conditions of specific areas of different cities around the UK and out of UK. Additionally, I have had the opportunity to collaborate with other teams and work on other projects in the transport sector such as strategic planning. 

The experience at ITS has helped in my job and career in that firstly, I gained a strong level of knowledge of the transport sector improving my confidence in the workplace. Secondly, the excellent reputation of ITS is attractive from the most important companies in the transport sector and I had the opportunity to get employed in two different companies after my graduation. 

I chose my course at the Institute for Transport Studies and the University of Leeds because firstly, I wanted to gain knowledge on the influence of transport to the environment because I had a gap of my general knowledge in the transport sector. Secondly, a professor from the university that I graduated in Greece (my home country) recommended ITS as the best University to study transport. 

I took part in the ITS Employer visits and I had an offer before my graduation. I strongly recommend students who want to work in the UK to attend this event. The most important help with career advice was the ITS Employer visits, to apply to many companies in the transport sector. Furthermore, I had the opportunity to attend a face-to-face meeting with a specialist in ITS helping me to create my CV and my cover letters. 

In my opinion, the most important achievement in my career so far is that I work in one of the most important companies of the transport sector, globally and I can build my career in the transport sector. I have had the opportunity to improve my technical skills and complete small projects from the beginning until the very end.