Mathematics graduate Shabaz Bhatti talks about pursuing a career in the aviation industry

BSc (Hons) Mathematics, 2015

UCLan Mathematics graduate, Shabaz Bhatti, has taken off in his career to become a Flight Co-ordinator at Heathrow Airport.

Shabaz has always had a passion for mathematics and wanted to study it at degree level. He wanted to stay in the North-West region and chose the mathematics course at UCLan due to it being highly ranked at the time.

After graduating in 2015, Shabaz wanted to find a career within the aviation industry, which is also a passion of his, and was soon successful in gaining his current role as a Flight Co-ordinator for Heathrow Airport. 

Shabaz’s job involves allocating airport slots to international airlines to enable them to operate at Heathrow. He gives permission to an airline to use the infrastructure and facilities of the airport. The role allows Shabaz to manage demand and capacity to fully utilise the infrastructure of Heathrow Airport.

The mathematics degree course has had a positive impact on Shabaz’s current employment, as he expressed: “My degree has helped enormously! The vital skill that studying mathematics at UCLan gives to its graduates is logical thinking. This skill helps in all walks of life as it makes you stand back from a problem and ‘think out of the box’.”

Reflecting on his time at UCLan, Shabaz found his second year trip to Toulouse was particularly memorable. He stated: “This was a fantastic opportunity provided by UCLan for students to gain first-hand experience of the variety of roles mathematics can offer.”

Speaking highly of his mathematics degree course, Shabaz said: “I would definitely highlight the range of opportunity and the way the course material was delivered. What I really liked was the fact that students could carve the path of their own studies by choosing their own modules.” Shabaz further added: “The way the course was delivered made studying and researching easier. The mathematics department provided help whenever required and the lecturers were very friendly and welcoming.”