From Intern to Managing Director: How a Saltire Scholar Helped Create a New Technology Business

Some of the most impactful ideas don’t start in boardrooms - they start with the right person, given the right opportunity. That person is often an intern, someone at the beginning of their career.

In 2021, Donaldson Group, one of the UK’s largest privately owned timber and construction groups, partnered with the Saltire Scholars Programme to explore how emerging technologies could improve customer experience within the construction and housebuilding sector.

As part of the programme, Product Design Engineering student Euan Gibson-Smith joined the business as a Virtual Reality Intern, tasked with investigating how immersive technology could be applied across the group’s portfolio of companies. The placement focused on identifying practical ways virtual reality could enhance how customers visualise homes, interiors and upgrades before purchase.

During the eight-week internship, Euan developed and demonstrated early virtual reality prototypes to Donaldson Group’s senior leadership team, including its CEO and Chief Technology Officer. His work highlighted the commercial potential of fully immersive, walkable home visualisation tools - an area the group had not previously explored in depth.

The internship ultimately laid the foundations for Spec3D, a standalone 3D visualisation platform that allows users to digitally walk through homes and customise layouts, finishes and upgrades in real time. The technology is now being used by house builders to support off-plan sales and customer decision-making.

Following the success of the placement, Euan was offered a permanent role within Donaldson Group and went on to establish Spec3D as a new business, supported and owned by the group. He now leads the company as Managing Director, overseeing the continued development and commercial rollout of the platform.

Within its first year, Spec3D secured contracts with multiple house builders and has helped position Donaldson Group at the forefront of digital innovation within the construction industry.

The story highlights the wider impact of structured internship programmes in supporting innovation, skills development and business growth. The Saltire Scholars Programme connects students from Scottish universities with organisations seeking to explore new ideas, deliver project-based work and build long-term talent pipelines.

By providing interns with meaningful responsibilities and access to senior decision-makers, host organisations can unlock fresh perspectives and identify opportunities that may otherwise remain unexplored.