Faculty of Technology
Talented student helps design super-yacht
Thu, Jan 26, 2012
The 28-metre yacht, designed and built by Sunseeker, was launched at the London Boat Show this month.
Third year student and keen sailor Stefan Burt, 21, is spending a year working for Sunseeker at its Poole design headquarters as part of his product design and innovation degree course.
He said: “I’ve been working as part of Sunseeker’s interior design team and am having a fantastic year. I’m absolutely loving it. The senior designers have given me some really enjoyable but challenging work and have taken in my ideas into consideration.
“At the moment it is very exciting as we have just launched the new super-yacht at the London Boat Show and that’s one of the yachts I’ve been draughtsman on.
“I've always been a keen yachtsman but it never occurred to me that one day I could be working with and designing some of the best luxury motor yachts in the world.”
Stefan is the first student from the University of Portsmouth’s School of Engineering to gain a placement with Sunseeker. The company employ one student a year in their design department.
Stefan said: “I consider it a real achievement to have been chosen, given I’m the first person they’ve recruited from Portsmouth. My year with them has been very valuable.”
Since Stefan started working at Sunseeker in August he has been the draughtsman for the yacht company’s 80 Predator, 84 Predator, 88 Predator and the new 28-metre yacht launched this month.
Stefan won engineering awards from the Institute of Engineering Designers at 16 and again at 18 which convinced him to pursue a career as a design engineer.
He said: “I have always had a passion for design and was inspired by winning those prizes to try and turn it into a career. Now I have worked at Sunseeker I would like to develop my skills further and eventually design my own concept yachts – it’s really interesting and intriguing work.”
Other Portsmouth students on the same course have, in the past, worked on projects as varied as designing bikes, space-saving furniture and teething rings for children, and redesigning the Accident and Emergency department at Queen Alexandra Hospital, toolkits for Vespas, security tagging systems, luggage and skateboards.
Product design and innovation tutor at the university Lynsey PLockyn said: “I am thrilled Stefan has been given the opportunity to work at such a high level and has been given such responsibility on his placement year.
“Our product design students are well thought of wherever they go, both in their sandwich year and in their first jobs after graduating, but it’s always wonderful to see someone at the start of their career being given a chance to make a difference.”