From Derby to Dubai - the spotlight is on Tom
10/07/2014 University of Derby
A University of Derby graduate who helped Justin Bieber and Lionel Richie to shine on stage has scooped a major award in the Middle East's premier events industry show in Dubai.Tom Ralston, who is 28 and originally from Manchester, graduated from the University in 2007 with a first class BSc (Hons) Sound, Light and Live Event Technology degree and has now been named 'young achiever' of the year at the Middle East EVENT Awards.
He is currently Project Manager for Eclipse Staging Services in Dubai, where he has managed huge shows for the international stars, as well as the likes of Bruno Mars and Razorlight.
Tom said: "It was an absolute honour to win this award. The fact that the accolade is for the whole of the Middle East and not just Dubai means that I knew there would be a lot of competition.
"The EVENT Awards is the top show for the industry in the Middle East. There were more than 750 industry peers in attendance so it was absolutely fantastic to get recognised for my work and especially to a standing ovation.
"I think the main reason I won this award was due to the sheer scale of the projects that I have project managed. To be 28 and to have managed such large-scale arena concerts with touring international acts, or shows such as the Burj Khalifa New Year's Eve 2013 show - the world's largest NYE show ever - is pretty unheard of."
After four years as a project manager for dbn Lighting in Manchester, Tom looked to further his career and moved to Dubai in 2011.
He said: "I absolutely love it here and it was definitely the best decision I have made. In just three years my career has progressed at such an exponential rate that I now project manage the technical elements for some of the biggest and highest profile shows in the whole region.
"Since there are so many expats here, and with Dubai being so westernised in many ways, there was no real 'culture shock' moving here. It's not all about work though, and life in Dubai is fantastic, with year-long sunshine."
Reflecting on his time at the University of Derby, where Tom was president of the Student Union Events Society, he said: "There were many good times at the University, from not only the course I did, but the whole 'life experience' and social side.
"I was president of events for two years and a member of the cricket team for three years and there was a great social life that came from all of that. Someone once told me that 'Derby is big enough to get lost in, but small enough to get found in' and they couldn't have been more right.
"I actually met my fiancee at the University and we have been together since my final year so, as you can imagine, the University of Derby holds a lot of fond memories for me."
He added: "The main reason I chose to study at the University of Derby was it offered the only degree of its type in the country at the time. There were one or two other universities that did similar courses but they were more arts based than a science-based course.
"The great thing about the course is that it had a good mix of 'theory' and 'practical'. Although there were certain elements to the theoretical side that were fairly general, such as core mathematics, the majority of the theory was extremely well tailored so that it actually applied to the industry we would all be going into.
"For example, we looked at the optics of the lighting fixtures themselves, rather than just 'generic optical theories'. The lighting equipment that the course had was of a good industry standard and in fact the company that I went on to work with straight after graduating actually owned certain pieces of the exact same equipment.
"This made it easy to start in the industry and gave the impression from day one that I knew exactly what I was talking about."
Tom's career goal is to become general manager at Eclipse Staging Services or at one of its group's other companies.
For more information, please visit: www.derby.ac.uk/courses/sound-light-and-live-event-technology-bsc-hons/
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