Jim Wright
Jim Wright, Design Engineer at Triumph Motorcycles
Studying at the University of Sunderland started a life-long love affair with the city for graduate Jim Wright. So much so that the 25-year-old design engineer now considers Sunderland a home from home and regularly travels up from Leicestershire, where he works for Triumph Motorcycles, to visit.
Jim explained that he was impressed by Sunderland from the first time he visited - on an open day at the university.
He said: "My parents live in York, where I grew up and I came to Sunderland to look at the university, as I wanted to do a degree in Automotive Engineering with Design.
"I was immediately impressed by the city, particularly the coastline. I loved the fact that the university campus was so centrally based and everyone I met seemed really friendly."
Jim started his degree at the University of Sunderland in 2001 and graduated four years later. He said: "I loved studying in Sunderland and the social life was fantastic. The coursework we did was very relevant too - I still have my notes from university in my desk at work to refer to for calculations.
"After graduating I really tried to get a job in the north east so I could live in Sunderland but I ended up moving to Leicestershire when I was offered a job at Triumph Motorcycles.
"I love my job - it's awesome. I've travelled to Taiwan and am going to Germany and I'm combining the knowledge I've learned at Sunderland with my love of motorbikes on a daily basis.
"I really enjoyed my time at the University of Sunderland and learned many life skills there - it's fair to say I left university a different person than when I went in.
"I still get up to Sunderland every other weekend - I have so many friends there and almost class it as home now."
Jim Wright, BEng Automotive Engineering with Design, Design Engineer at Triumph Motorcycles
