About me…
Hi, I’m Toby!
I’m 17 years old and currently studying A-level physics, maths, and computer science at SGS Berkeley Green UTC. I hope to one day pursue a career in IT, digital services, or electronics by way of a degree apprenticeship.
As an A-level technology student, I am an enthusiastic, practical, and ambitious individual with a passion for IT and Engineering. I have a strong drive to learn more in the field.
I have always been a quick learner and enjoy helping friends and family. Through my education and personal projects, I have gained proficiency in engineering, networking, and sound/lighting. From an early age, I have been interested in home electrics and DIY.
This passion is demonstrated by my GCSE grades which I achieved in the September exams, my lowest being a 6 & multiple grade 8-9’s / high distinction.
Accomplishments
And despite having only turned 17 last July I have had many achievements.
Academic:
Although I may be in the top 20% of students by GCSE grade, there is much more to it than that.
To help better understand my future I have attended many extracurricular activities to help get a better understanding of future careers. I have attended The National Apprenticeship Show twice and been to many degree apprenticeship recruitment events at places such as the university of Gloucester. This has been an great help to understand the many rolls out there.
In addition, I have had work experience at GE Aveation and Renishaw (software development) & IT work experience at SGS Berkeley Green and Tudor Rose International. I am always willing to help as during my time in education have attended eco-conferences as well as being an ambassador for my schools in extracurricular competitions. The most recent of which is the project lead of the RTX first tech challenge team at my school (2023-2024): https://bit.ly/3vpFYaw The team managed to make it all the way to the UK grand finals, placing 17th in the UK and winning the ‘Innovate Award’ & ‘Think Award’.
I have achieved many certifications such as:
– Bronze DofE (and currently working on silver)
– First Tech Challenge UK Grand finalist
– Industrial Cadets Award.
– CyberFirst Futures & Advanced
– keysight fundamentals of electronics
– Finalist in regional school public speaking competition
Out of Education:
From a young age, I have always had a passion for music.
This particularly started when I got my first DJ equipment at the age of 8. Ever since then I have been upgrading my setup and running weddings, parties, and discos for a variety of friends and families across the country
First Tech challenge!
I was the team leader for our school’s entry into the First Tech Challenge, an international competition in which teams have to design and build a robot to compete in a yearly challenge. We made it all the way to the UK Grand Finals placing 17th and winning the Innovate and Think awards
Recently, since attending SGS Berkeley, I have found an interest in servers, networking, and IT. My home lab has grown and changed in capabilities greatly.
I have my own servers which self-host this very website (and more) as well as file storage, media servers, email, game servers etc
It’s been a big challenge to get everything up and working reliably but it’s a challenge I have enjoyed learning about.
I also have my own YouTube channel, now with over 1200 subscribers, and will often post videos about my servers as well as random DIY/engineering projects that I get up to.
One of my most popular videos, installing a wind turbine on the house, now has over 400,000 views
I also enjoy making things as demonstrated here by the computer-controlled Christmas lights I designed for our house starting 2022.
It doesn’t matter what it is, electric scooter, water pump, smart home or DIY traffic light, I am always interested in connecting some wires together or 3D printing a bracket if it means I get to make something cool.
