Double award success for former Heriot-Watt Graduate Apprentice

Ingenuity, dedication and hard work paid off for Fraser Bruce who was crowned Scotland's Apprentice of the Year at Skills Development Scotland's Scottish Apprenticeship Awards.

Fraser also won Graduate Apprentice of the Year at the country's flagship apprenticeships award ceremony held at the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow on 26 February.

Fraser graduated with First Class Honours from our Engineering Design and Manufacture (Electronic) programme last December. Having previously completed a Modern Apprenticeship with Michelin Tyres in Dundee, Fraser identified the Heriot-Watt Graduate Apprenticeship as having the necessary electronic specialism to enable him to continue his career development, and which would have a positive impact with his employer, Aberdeen-based JFD Global.

Key to Fraser's success in winning the awards was his development of a prototype demonstrator to automatically calculate the escape time in a distressed submarine, which has huge potential to save lives in real world applications.

JFD Global Training and Competency Manager Kevin Hadden said: “Fraser is our shining light – he’s very bright, brings a lot of energy and is a self-starter.”

Fraser has also led on the delivery of over £2.2 million of commercial diving and defence products over the last four years. And during his degree, his hard work and dedication earned him promotion from Junior Engineer to Electrical Project Engineer and taking on responsibility for training other colleagues.

Donald Sandilands, Electrical & Software Engineering Manager said: “Fraser’s success with the Graduate Apprenticeship has demonstrated how an internal pipeline of engineering talent can be developed in a niche high technology company that would traditionally recruit graduates directly.“

Fraser's success is also a powerful endorsement of the Graduate Apprenticeship route, and in particular how the flexible delivery of the our EDM-E programme can have significant real-world impact.

Adnan Zahid, programme director for the EDM-E programme shared his congratulations on the success, "This is an exceptional achievement and a testament to Fraser’s dedication, professionalism and growth throughout the programme. I am immensely proud of his achievements, which reflect the strength, quality and impact of the EDM‑E Graduate Apprenticeship programme, and the supportive environment fostered across the wider Heriot‑Watt community.

"It was wonderful to celebrate Fraser’s success in person. The recognition he received on such a prestigious awards platform speaks volumes about the strength and impact of Graduate Apprenticeships."

If you'd like to find out more about the Heriot-Watt Engineering Design and Manufacture programmes, contact the team on ga@hw.ac.uk.