Meet the team: Nahid Mosharraf, Associate Lecturer in Construction

Nahid joined the college in 2022 as an Associate Lecturer in Construction, having studied construction and engineering for over 10 years. We recently caught up with Nahid to learn more about her experience in the industry and how she is inspiring learners for the future.

What did you do prior to working at GC?

"I worked as a Senior Lecturer in the Civil Engineering Department of Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology for eight years. I taught various courses like engineering mechanics to second-semester undergraduate students and strength of materials to third-semester undergraduate students.

"My passion for material testing was ignited by this, and I began supervising final-year projects involving the partial replacement of cement by supplementary cementitious materials in an effort to reduce carbon footprints and achieve sustainable development.

"It was fortunate that this idea was selected for the National Idea Bank Competition. My work on material testing led me to write conference papers. I arrived in the UK in October 2021 to begin my Master's in engineering management at the University of Gloucestershire."

What are your specialisms?

At Gloucestershire College, I teach my students how to handle and operate surveying equipment.  

Testing construction materials is another area I have a lot of experience and interest in. 

Sustainability is also a topic I am passionate about. It has been observed that natural resources, especially cement, are increasingly harmful to human health and other species. As a result, global climate change has also been attributed to it. To maintain sustainability, we must replace natural resources with sustainable ones and reuse used materials.

As I have vast experience in all of the above mentioned areas, I can easily relate my knowledge and experience to T Level and BTEC students.

How did you get into lecturing?

"My passion for teaching dates back to my childhood. During my school years, I tutored younger kids. As time passed, I became more and more fond of teaching.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I am always motivated by my students’ achievements and progression.

I enjoy watching them gain confidence in using the equipment as well as learning how to manage a team and communicate effectively. Further, this also leads to students becoming more responsible when it comes to managing and manoeuvring the surveying equipment appropriately. As well as using different construction software, they learn how to graphically detail the construction drawings.

"Also, being a female professional in a male-dominated industry I love motivating my students by sharing stories of my own struggles in my career paths. This industry needs more female role models to inspire girls who would like to go into trades, but can be put off by gender barriers and stereotypes."

Tell us a bit about some of the courses that you deliver. What skills do they bring to our learners and employers?

I teach GC’s BTEC qualifications as well as Design, Surveying and Planning for Construction T Level courses, covering a range of topics, including quality control management, building services science, construction planning and procedures, and surveying.

In surveying I teach my students how to apply theoretical knowledge of engineering surveying in the real world. They perform levelling for the road construction, topographical surveys to determine the contour of the ground and facade survey.

Any other interesting/fun facts about yourself that you’d like to share?

It was in the year 2021 that I created my YouTube channel for teaching students and providing teachers with information about online learning platforms. Meanwhile, I began blogging on my own Blogspot account. Furthermore, I assist students in selecting their university for their graduate and postgraduate degrees in the field of construction and provide guidance regarding their career paths. It is for this purpose that I run my own Facebook Group to provide counselling to international students. In addition to this, I love drawing sketches and cooking.

Supporting T Level students

We invite local employers to support our T level learners by offering an industry placement that will both benefit your business and teach young people the skills you look for in an employee.

To find out more about our T Level provision, students' success stories, and how employers can get involved, please visit this page