The latest recruits to join the ranks of Scotland's top young engineers have been unveiled at a graduation ceremony celebrating the achievements of students from the Institute for System Level Integration (iSLI).

Family and friends attended the ceremony in the University of Glasgow's Bute Hall to watch Paul McKechnie and Graeme Stewart formally awarded their EngD degrees, jointly awarded by the universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde.

The new Doctors of Engineering, who will both now move on to research and development roles in the electronics industry, bring to 27 the number of students now to have graduated from the advanced four year course.

“I am delighted to congratulate Paul and Graeme on their doctorates. The EngD is one of the most demanding qualifications the engineering sector has to offer and they join a select group of iSLI alumni currently blazing a wide trail through the electronics industry. In addition to working on many of the most exciting new products to hit shop shelves for the past five years, our graduates have been named Electronics Weekly Student Engineer of the Year for the last three years running, and we expect both to enjoy great success in their future careers,” said Siân Williams, EngD Centre Manager at ISLI.

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The Engineering Doctorate (EngD) is a four-year research degree, academically equivalent to a PhD but placing emphasis on research within an industrial context. Known as Research Engineers, students combine a research project with accredited technical and business training in a programme designed to appeal to ambitious and able graduates who aspire to managerial positions in industry.

The institute's graduates, who have gone on to employment with a range of international companies such as Xilinx, Thales Optronics, ARM and Agilent, have won a litany of academic industry prizes in the past. In addition to winning the prestigious Student Engineer of the Year award in 2007, 2008 and 2009, last year's Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Industrial Fellowship was also carried off by an iSLI Research Engineer.

Founded in 1998, iSLI supports the development of electronics systems design worldwide and encourages the exploration of new technologies through research. By producing highly skilled design engineers and researchers the institute is helping to meet the needs of the rapidly changing global electronics industry. Scientists and engineers contribute significantly to the economic health of a nation and the organisation aims to attract the brightest and most creative minds to maintain the supply of highly skilled science and engineering students to the global electronics industry.

(GK/KMcA)