It’s not often that the school welcomes post-doctoral researchers in microbiology, but that’s the career that Giuseppe Merlino from near Milan was pursuing, and which illustrates the diversity of backgrounds of the school’s intake.

After a degree from the University of Milan he worked for four years in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, researching environmental microbes..

He’s always been interested in woodworking, seeing wood as the ultimate natural and most durable of materials.

Giuseppe came to us for a visit over the summer, and we also put him in touch with an Italian student, Gianluca Caregnato, who studied with us during 2017/18.

Maybe woodworking is in the north Italian air, because Gianluca won the Students’ Choice Award, as voted by the students themselves.

Gianluca’s signature piece was an art nouveau-inspired desk in oak with walnut veneer.  The main part of the desk required 54 intricately-formed pieces of veneer.

It was while he was in Saudi Arabia that Giuseppe slowly lost his passion for his first career and started to take up woodworking as a hobby – and a new passion was born.

We’re delighted that he’s chosen to study with us.