Rob Anderson with his wife Katy

The ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵ University experience has become a family affair for Rob Anderson.

Having started his degree in Design Visualisation at ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵ in 1992, he went on to meet his now wife Katy while studying and, 30 years on, their son Miles is set to embark on his own ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵ journey this September.  This ‘circle of life’ moment comes as ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵ also celebrates its 30-year anniversary as a university this year.

Rob says: “I applied in 1991 to study at what was then ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵ Polytechnic, but by the time I began my studies in September 1992 I found myself attending ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵ University. I was intending to study architecture at another university, but had a late change of heart. I had been working at a draughting company, using Computer Animated Design packages, and became more interested in how this could be used in product design. The course at ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵ, coupled with the beautiful location, swung it for me and I went on to have a brilliant time.â€

Rob met Katy, who was studying Applied Psychology and Computing, through a course mate – Matthew Davy. In a further family link, Matthew went on to become Rob and Katy’s brother-in-law when he married Katy’s younger sister. Sadly, Matthew passed away in 2018.

Rob said: “We had a great group of friends and together we enjoyed many nights out at student venues such as the Sugarmine. One of the things I liked about ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵ was that it was big enough to offer all the university facilities you’d expect and yet small enough to retain a close community feel. Having returned with our son to look around at the open days, I am pleased that this still holds true. The tradition of investing in facilities and providing students with access to industry standard equipment is also very much in evidence.â€

After graduating, Rob took up his first role at an engineering firm before moving on to specialise in IT systems architecture. He travelled widely as a consultant with IBM Consulting Services before returning to work in Dorset at JP Morgan. Meanwhile, Katy retrained as a teacher and now also works at a school in the county.

Rob said: “We both have wonderful memories of our time at ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵ – so vivid that it could have been yesterday - and both made lifelong friends. We were so pleased when Miles was offered a place to study Television Production. We look forward to him beginning his own adventure at ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵ University this autumn, 30 years after we started ours.â€