CIHT East Midlands are pleased to collaborate with Loughborough University to host a careers networking evening.
Like rivers carving their own paths, careers often take unexpected turns. Career Currents brings together experienced professionals who have navigated diverse paths after their academic studies some within universities, others across industry, policy, and more. Whether you're a current PhD student, a recent MSc or BSc graduate, or early in your career journey, this event offers insights to help you explore your own direction.
Through their stories, the event will explore the realities of career development beyond graduation, covering transitions between academia and other sectors, the cultivation of transferable skills for diverse environments, and the search for fulfilling roles outside traditional academic tracks. It will address how to cope with uncertainty and make informed decisions at key career junctions, while offering guidance on identifying and evaluating opportunities both within and outside one’s discipline.
Participants will gain insight into strategies for moving between academia and other fields, the influence of skills, networks, and personal values on career choices, and ways professionals manage setbacks or changes in direction. The discussions will also consider broader issues such as balancing passion with stability, confronting doubts about leaving academia, and recognising the hidden skills that academic training provides. Alongside these reflections, the event will present practical tips for navigating career uncertainty, highlight examples of the many career trajectories pursued by graduates, and inspire participants to imagine new possibilities for their own future pathways.
This event will be of particular interest to PhD students, early-career academics, MSC and BSc graduates.
Dr Frank Kofi Asamoah Awuah, Highway EV Charging Senior Engineer at ESB eCars
Dr Frank Kofi Asamoah Awuah is a Marie Curie Fellow and Senior Engineer with ESB, serving as the primary engineer for the design and construction of EV charging infrastructure across the UK. Frank secured this senior role before completing his PhD, illustrating how adaptability and transferable skills can fast-track career success in today’s competitive market.
He earned his PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Nottingham, where his research focused on intelligent pavements and autonomous repair technologies. His career bridges academia and industry, offering practical insights into emerging infrastructure solutions.
Frank is a member of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT), the UK Institute of Highway Engineers, and the Transportation Research Board’s Standing Technical Committee on Maintenance and Operations Management (Washington DC). He is also a Fellow of Advance HE and a Physics Teacher, passionate about mentoring future engineers.
CPD is defined as any activity that provides new knowledge or skills that help you to achieve your professional development goals or has otherwise helped you to develop as a highways and transportation professional
Plan, record and manage your CPD for free at CIHT Learn.
Need help with getting the most out of your CPD access CIHT’s CPD Guidance here.
We are working to ensure that the event is as comfortable and inclusive as possible.
You can contact us in confidence to ask questions and/or to let us know of any accessibility requirements or adjustments that you may have: regions@ciht.org.uk
Got a question?
t: +44 (0)20 7336 1555
e: info@ciht.org.uk