A young engineer with a passion for cars is on the road to success thanks to the support of his college.
Darlington College graduate Nils Blumfeld is now being mentored by one of the country’s top engineers Connor Lishman after being put in touch by their former lecturer.
For Darlington College engineering tutor Rob Elliott linking up the two engineers is an opportunity to help some of the best students he has ever taught in his decades-long career.
Nils, originally from Latvia, has just completed his Level 3 BTECH Extended Diploma in Engineering and will now study electronics engineering at Northumbria University.
In the meantime he is being mentored by Connor, an implementation and improvement engineer at ADM Pressings, in Newcastle, which works on projects with Aston Martin, LEVC, Caterpillar and JCB.
Rob said: “Connor and Nils are among the best students I have ever taught in my career in further education – they were stars from day one – so it made perfect sense to put them in touch.”
Connor, 25, of Darlington, a former Haughton Academy student, left Darlington College with an HNC in engineering and secured a first class degree and masters in engineering at Teesside University. He secured a job at Cleveland Bridge then a top post with ADM Pressings.
“I’m given scope to try and improve efficiency in any way I can,” said Connor, an active college and schools STEM ambassador, who worked on the North section of the A1M redevelopment. “I’ve always kept in touch with Rob, who is a brilliant tutor and helped me visualise engineering rather than just tell me the facts.
“Half of my job is thinking about the next generation of engineers and from the minute we first talked on a video call I got a great impression of Nils, who is now supporting me in my work.”
Nils, 18, added: “I have always loved cars and wanted to be educated in Britain. I came to Darlington because my sister was already here and I loved my time at college. Working in automotive engineering would be my dream and I am really enjoying the whole experience of working with Connor.”
For more information on opportunities at Darlington College visit www.darlington.ac.uk.