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Student Case Study

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Name of Student: Ethan Xavier Thomas Earl 

Degree Subject: Economics & Finance 

Job Title: Project Coordinator 

Company Name: University of Exeter 

Description of Organisation:  

This project is funded by the Education Incubator and led by Barrie Cooper and the Digital Learning Developers in the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy.  The Education Incubator supports staff from across the University by creating spaces and funding projects in which they can explore and develop pedagogic innovations and ideas. 

Type of Internship:   

Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter  

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship? 

Creating content for blogs and social media. Gaining and exhibiting leadership experience when helping to direct events and work processes. Also, showcasing the space to prospective users including students and staff. 

What was your biggest achievement on your internship? 

Increasing the number of people borrowing equipment from the Digital Maker Space, especially through a showcase event held at the end of term which was mostly directed by the interns. 

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?  

Sometimes we had differing perspectives on what opportunities to pursue for an event at the space, but listening to the diverse range of approaches resulted in a better final approach than any individual would’ve achieved. 

Skills Learnt:  

  • Communication  
  • Teamwork and Collaboration  
  • Problem Solving 
  • Leadership 
  • Customer Service 
  • Organisation 
  • Time and Workload Management 
  • IT 
  • Decision Making 
  • Researching 
  • Focus on Goals and Outcomes 

Attributes Developed: 

  • Logical thinking 
  • Creative thinking 
  • Independence 
  • Work Ethic 
  • Professionalism 
  • Motivation 
  • Personal Awareness 
  • Confidence 
  • Initiative 

 

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector? 

My internship experience was my first professional experience and provided a fantastic opportunity for me to gain experience to showcase to prospective employers. Throughout the internship, I learned a lot about the importance of communication and setting goals to achieve the desired outcomes. Finally, I think it was incredible to work alongside two other interns and Barrie our manager, along with a few others, to form a close-knit team which greatly improved the Digital Maker Space over the course of my time there. 

Student Case Study: Exeter Science Park

Name of Student: Rebecca Jones 

Degree Subject: Global Sustainability Solutions 

Job Title: Carbon accountant 

Company Name: Exeter Science Park 

Description of Organisation:  

Exeter Science Park is the South West’s centre of activity for businesses in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM). 

It is the result of a vision to develop a regional science park that stimulates a knowledge-based economy, delivering better jobs, higher productivity and economic growth. 

Their mission is to help innovative STEMM businesses to deliver extraordinary growth in a like-minded community. 

Type of Internship:   

 Student Business Partnerships (SBPs)  

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship? 

To calculate carbon footprint for Exeter Science Park and calculate emissions from commuting habits. Also, to provide recommendations on how to lower emissions and which aspects of business protocol were most carbon intensive and create presentation and report of findings. 

What was your biggest achievement on your internship? 

Creating a carbon footprint report for the whole company! The work increased my confidence, gave me insight into corporate life, and provided me with experience that has enhanced my CV massively. 

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?  

Being a remote worker, it was difficult to always stay in contact with the company. We scheduled weekly phone calls to overcome this. Also, being from a non-accounting background, I also struggled with some of the technical expense data. A combination of extra research and maintaining contact with the finance team helped me with this. 

Skills Learnt:  

  • Researching  
  • Organisation 
  • Problem Solving 
  • Communication 

Attributes Developed: 

  • Commercial Awareness  
  • Confidence 
  • Motivation  
  • Independence 

 Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector? 

My internship experience was a highly-rewarding, independent and a challenging learning curve. I have learnt things about myself and the corporate environment that will be hugely beneficial to life after university. Undertaking the internship alongside my masters was challenging at times but has taught me how to balance high workloads and hugely enhanced my CV for postgraduate work. 

Student Case Study: The University of Exeter

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Name of Student: Alice Sharp 

Degree Subject: Medicine (BMBS) 

Job Title: BMBS Student Intern 

Company Name: The University of Exeter 

Description of Organisation:  

The Department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences is an internationally recognised centre of excellence for biomedical and clinical research and teaching with a focus on understanding the mechanisms and treatment of human disease. 

Their research delivers direct benefit to patients, the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry, with the aim of understanding the underlying cellular, molecular and genomic basis of disease and applying this knowledge in innovative ways that lead to improved treatment and a better quality of life for patients. Scientists and clinicians in CBS work closely together to ensure that our research is directly targeted to clinical need. 

Type of Internship:   

Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter  

 What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship? 

Looking at a set of year 1 LSRC sessions and seeing if they included: equality, diversity and inclusion. Also, looking at and suggesting ways that the following can be included in those set of year 1 LSRCs. 

What was your biggest achievement on your internship? 

Contributing to changes in the medical school curriculum to make it more inclusive and to stimulate conversations around these subjects. 

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?  

I was given a lot of anatomy sessions, given the content of these sessions it was hard to think of ways to make them inclusive as the focus was on learning the structures in the body. 

Skills Learnt:  

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure 
  • Organisation 
  • Time and Work Load Management 
  • Strategic Planning 
  • Researching 
  • IT 

Attributes Developed: 

  • Perseverance 
  • Motivation 
  • Cultural Awareness 
  • Creative thinking 
  • Independence 
  • Confidence 

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector? 

“During my internship as a 3rd year medical student, I had the invaluable opportunity to contribute to the improvement of the year 1 curriculum for medicine. It was an enriching experience that allowed me to apply my theoretical knowledge in a practical setting.

Throughout the internship, I closely examined the existing curriculum, identifying its strengths and areas that needed enhancement. Collaborating with senior faculty members, I actively participated in discussions and proposed innovative ideas to refine the course structure and content.

This internship provided me with a deeper understanding of medical education and allowed me to make a meaningful contribution to the development of future physicians. It reinforced my passion for teaching and inspired me to continue striving for excellence in medical education. “

Employer Case Study: The University of Exeter

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Name of Organisation: University of Exeter 

Description of Organisation:  

At the University of Exeter, they want to make the exceptional happen, and have a real and lasting impact on the world around them. They are already firmly at the forefront of universities worldwide and their ambition is to increase that position, particularly as a Global 100 institution. They challenge their talented students to achieve more than they ever thought possible and recruit the very best people from around the world to reach greater heights in research excellence, innovation and impact.   

Name of Employer: Craig McEwan 

Job Title:  Academic Developer 

Internship Scheme used:  

The Graduate Business Partnership Scheme (GBP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter 

Feedback: 

“Will was the first person that I line managed. He was a good colleague, and I enjoyed the experience.” 

“Will played an important role in supporting the management of this summer’s Students as Change Agents projects. He provided valuable support to the six Change Agent SCPs, their line manager and the three project leads.”

“Will also helped to take forward two important projects in the Academic Development & Skills team. He gathered and consolidated the views of the team and presented suggestions for a new set of standards for ‘writing for the web’ in our team. He also started an important project to map the level and type of academic skills support provided within academic departments across the university. All this work will be taken forward and built on by the team follow his departure.” 

 

Student Case Study: Education Incubator

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Name of Student: Holly Frostwick 

Degree Subject: FCH Mathematics and Philosophy 

Job Title: ChatGPT Intern 

Company Name: Education Incubator 

Description of Organisation:  

The Education Incubator aims to be innovative in all aspects of its work, providing a space for staff and students to build communities around new projects that deliver lasting change at the University of Exeter. 

The ChatGTP project will assess the potential benefits and challenges of the proliferation of AI text generators for higher education. It will draw on the experiences of staff, students and the broader University of Exeter community to determine the nature of any new problems confronting the university and innovative strategies to make the most of the potential these new tools offer while minimising the threats. 

Type of Internship:   

Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter  

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship? 

Key responsibilities for me included managing social media (Instagram) for the project, writing blog posts, helping set up workshops, as well as reviewing recordings of workshop. Also, I will be part of the report writing.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship? 

My biggest achievement was creating and managing the project’s social media. This allowed me to develop my graphic design skills; being part of the project’s workshops made me more confident in my abilities, as well as helping widen my perspective on this area; I will be part of writing the resultant report for this project which I anticipate will also improve my confidence in my written communication as I develop my abilities for technical writing. 

Skills Learnt:  

  • Communication 
  • Teamwork and Collaboration 
  • Ability to Work Under Pressure 
  • Organisation 
  • Time and Workload Management 
  • Degree Specific – report writing, copy writing 

Attributes Developed: 

  • Confidence 
  • Work Ethic 

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector? 

This was a great experience to work in an area I’m really passionate in. The workshops which the project ran provided a great opportunity to speak to loads of people about their opinions, and as a result deepened my understanding and opinions. 

Employer Case Study: Devon County Council

Name of Organisation: Devon County Council: Communications Team  

Description of Organisation:  

At Devon County Council, they work to improve life across Devon for everyone. They want to create a place that people enjoy living in, as well as a place where people enjoy working. Every day, everyone who works there is making an impact and able to see the differences that they make to the people of Devon.At Devon County Council, they do everything they can to support staff and help grow their careers. Devon County Council and its staff seek to eliminate discrimination, advance equality and foster good relations. 

Name of Employer: Julia Hulland 

Job Title: Senior Communications Officer 

Internship Scheme used:  

The Graduate Business Partnership Scheme (GBP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter 

Feedback: 

“Seeing Hannah’s confidence increase during her time with us was very satisfying. She has some great ideas but had been reluctant to speak up in meetings and put her thoughts across. I hope she leaves us with a lot more faith in her own ability.”

“It has been an excellent experience and we are pleased to have been able to support another University of Exeter graduate in their first job. Unfortunately, our current budget pressures meant we were unable to offer Hannah an extension or full-time role with us, but this is absolutely not a reflection of her ability or suitability. We are very pleased that Hannah has secured a full time, permanent communications role in London. “

Student Case Study: VTEC Photonics

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Name of Student: Jeremy Prichard  

Degree Subject: Electronic Engineering 

Job Title: Junior Development Engineer Intern 

Company Name: VTEC Photonics 

Description of Organisation:  

VTEC Photonics, subsidiary of VTEC Lasers and Sensors is an innovation solutions company specializing in optics and data integration to create customized systems for a wide variety of industries, including fitness, telecommunication, manufacturing, environmental, and communications. 

Founded in 2011 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, VTEC Lasers and Sensors is committed to “Improving Quality of Life” with experience in opto-electronics going back to the 80’s developing lasers for the Philips CD-player. They provide technology and products for creating, transporting, bundling, analyzing, and presenting data.  

Type of Internship:  

 Student Business Partnerships (SBPs)   

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship? 

My key duties included undertaking a project involving PCB and software design. 

What was your biggest achievement on your internship? 

My biggest achievement was learning software development. 

Skills Learnt:  

  • Communication 
  • Teamwork and collaboration 
  • Time and Workload Management 
  • Researching  

Attributes Developed: 

  • Motivation 
  • Logical thinking  
  • Independence 

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector? 

The internship was a great experience that taught me a lot about working within a company to develop a product. I was tasked with a project to add additional functionality to an already existing electronics product. This involved some PCB design but mostly software design. It was great to collaborate with other employees at the company and become part of a team. At times it was difficult to balance university work and internship work, but the flexibility of the job meant I could complete different tasks without having too much work. 

Student Case Study: The University of Exeter

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Name of Student: Varsha Balakrishnan 

Degree Subject: Spanish and Communications 

Job Title: Student as Change Agent Intern 

Company Name: The University of Exeter 

Description of Organisation:

At the University of Exeter, they want to make the exceptional happen, and have a real and lasting impact on the world around them. They are already firmly at the forefront of universities worldwide and their ambition is to increase that position, particularly as a Global 100 institution. They challenge their talented students to achieve more than they ever thought possible and recruit the very best people from around the world to reach greater heights in research excellence, innovation and impact.  

Type of Internship:   

Student Campus Partnership (SCP) | Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter  

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship? 

My biggest responsibilities were to reach out to different students – from different backgrounds/ different societies (connect with them via social media). Also, to use excel to create spreadsheets and signposting information for attending Teams meetings. Working in this area you help with the communication and branding of key pieces of work to ensure they are easily accessible and helpful for students. Liaising with project partners to make decisions about the project shape and outputs with a key role for me. As well as this I took a leading role in the direction and management of key elements of the project communicating and collaborating with students, academic and professional services staff and Guild/SU representatives where appropriate. Moreover, I planned, designed, and undertook student engagement research to better improve the services offered to students by the university.   

 What was your biggest achievement on your internship? 

My biggest achievement was the work I produced (an excel tool that departments will now use). As well as this a big achievement of my internship has been the ideas and opportunities it has given me. For example, I was encouraged by my team leaders to apply for the student as change agent self-funded projects because of the ideas I have – and my project was accepted. 

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?  

There weren’t very many challenges for me. I was a little nervous to present PowerPoints in interviews, but I realised it would help me gain confidence for the future by practising this skill. As well as this my team leaders encouraged me which further helped.  

Skills Learnt:  

  • Communication 
  • Teamwork and Collaboration 
  • Problem Solving  
  • Ability to Work Under Pressure  
  • Organisation 
  • Time and Workload Management 
  • Strategic Planning 
  • IT 
  • Decision Making 
  • Researching  

 

Attributes Developed: 

  • Confidence 
  • Initiative 
  • Perseverance 
  • Motivation 
  • Logical thinking 
  • Independence 
  • Work Ethic 

 

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector? 

It was very fun, and enjoyable. I learned about the inner workings of the University’s non-academic departments; which helped me with the tasks I had to do as part of my internship. My supervisors were incredibly supportive and were there to help me if I had any questions – even after I completed the internship, they told me on numerous occasions that they are available to help and support me with any career, CV, interview help, and much more. I would recommend it to any student who would like valuable experience and would want to develop and learn new skills (that are appealing to employers). 

 

Employer Case Study: The Falmouth Distilling Co

Name of Organisation: The Falmouth Distilling Co 

Description of Organisation:  

A distillery on the Cornish coast creating multi-award winning small-batch spirits designed to enjoy in favourite company. With backgrounds in cheffing, science and design, their gins are uniquely distilled with fresh and foraged botanicals, with a focus on incredible flavour, sustainability, and careful craftsmanship. 

Name of Employer: Daisy Hillier 

Job Title: Director 

Internship Scheme used:  

Student Business Partnership (SBP) |Employer Engagement & Student Employment | University of Exeter 

Feedback: 

“It was Francesca’s responsibility to produce comprehensive sales and marketing data on our own company and market research on others, to understand the size of market. Also, to understand weaknesses of Lovedays and where we should be positioning ourselves. 

She provided really valuable research into our customer base which we can use to better inform our marketing. 

Francesca was an absolute joy to work with, we would employ her in an instant if we had a role for her. She’s clever, self-motivated and has a real desire to be helpful and learn.” 

 Student Quote –  

“My internship has been eye-opening, exciting, and intriguing. I have loved every minute! The work I have undertaken has really assisted my development of organisation (working alongside my degree), IT skills, and general development of understanding what tasks may be given in a sales and marketing position.”

Read Francescas Student Case Study: https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/internships/student-case-study-the-falmouth-distilling-co/ 

Student Case Study: JM Enviro Limited 

Name of Student: Lauren Burke 

Degree Subject: Geography 

Job Title: Flood Risk Consultant Intern

Company Name: JM Enviro Limited 

Description of Organisation:  

JM Enviro Limited was set in 2017 to provide coordinated environmental and engineering input to a wide range of infrastructure, buildings, and masterplan projects. 

Working collaboratively with clients, architects, planning consultants and other technical specialists, JM Enviro Limited delivers technical reports to inform feasibility studies, planning applications and input to design to ensure that the environment is protected and enhanced as part of the development process. 

Their main area of expertise is flood risk and drainage strategy input to buildings and masterplans, but we collaborate, and coordinate input as required on other environmental aspects such as ecology, contamination assessment, noise assessment, and air quality assessment as well as civil, structural, and geotechnical engineering. 

Type of Internship:   

 Student Business Partnerships (SBPs)   

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship? 

My key responsibilities included managing deadlines and ensuring reports were sent out on time. They also involved gathering information from multiple sources to put together flood risk reports 

What was your biggest achievement on your internship? 

My biggest achievement on my internship was helping to produce draft flood risk reports as well as greater self confidence in my capabilities.  

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?  

My biggest challenge was balancing deadlines alongside uni. I overcame this by setting small achievable goals.  

Skills Learnt:  

  • Communication  
  • Teamwork and Collaboration 
  • Focus on Goals and Outcomes 
  • Decision Making 
  • Researching 

Attributes Developed: 

  • Confidence 
  • Initiative 
  • Perseverance 
  • Motivation 

 Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector? 

“Overall, my internship has been invaluable, and I have learnt so much during the process. 
I have developed valuable skills that I hope to take into the workplace and beyond. “