Category Archives: Engineering

Commercial Research Intern – Vivacity Labs

Access to Internships (A2I), Business and Management, Computer Science, Education, Teaching and Research, Engineering, Information Technology, Manufacturing, Engineering and Processing

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My main roles were to do research for projects that they wanted to undertake with councils and international organisations. I would also research the councils themselves to look for angles that would allow the company to better align themselves with their client’s needs. I was tasked to edit and complete their website so that it could go live and set up a blog strategy for the company to follow once I left.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My biggest achievement was editing and working on the website. When I joined the website needed a lot of work and I did most of the editing, adding of content and creating the blog strategy. It took a long time but seeing how the website looks now makes me proud.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I completed lots of research that will help them now and in the long term, including information to help in meetings and lists of contact details of people needing to be contacted in all the boroughs in London. I did research that would help with deciding which cities to install products in as part of an EU project, and this helped take the load off the rest of the marketing team.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Persuasion, customer service, decision making

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Commercial awareness, logical thinking, creative thinking

Engineering Intern – MB Aerospace

Access to Internships (A2I), Energy Engineering, Engineering, Manufacturing, Engineering and Processing, , ,

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I was tasked with improving the current grinding process cycle time for the turbine aerofoils. I also undertook a side project during my time which was to automize the turbine cleaning process. From these I developed new skills and built valuable industrial experience I wouldn’t have been able to develop from a university.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I managed to reduce the cycle time by a significant amount which over exceeded the level expected by an intern. This boosted my confidence massively and I feel capable to go into other companies and repeat the same success.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

In order to reduce the cycle time, I had to perform a detailed analysis of exactly how and where waste occurs in the process. I then acted on this allowing them to produce more parts per year and therefore make more money. More importantly, though I left them with areas where they could continue to make improvements and further reduce the time with using few resources.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Strategic planning, focus on goals and outcomes, assessing and managing risk

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Commercial awareness, creative thinking, independence

Intern Energy Consultant – JRP Solutions

Access to Internships (A2I), Business and Management, Energy Engineering, Engineering, Management and Consultancy, Mining and Minerals Engineering, Mining, Environment and Natural Resources, Science

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

The main roles where contacting clients, creating business plans for potential company ventures, creating clear pitches for the company to take to clients, creating educational material and designing sheets within excel to create reports for senior management at the company’s client businesses. The biggest of these were the educational material and the reports for senior managers. The educational material was in the form of a booklet which would teach managers and other employees about energy management and energy usage. The report designed within excel was an executive summary of energy saving solutions identified and the savings associated with them.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I became more confident in communication with senior management teams and became highly proficient in excel.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I helped to lighten the workload of significant projects within the company and lead my own projects which would otherwise have been left at the bottom of priorities and possible never completed.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Teamwork and collaboration, problem solving, negotiation

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Perseverance, creative thinking, work ethic

Renewable Technology Designer – Eco NRG

Access to Internships (A2I), Engineering, Environmental Work, Manufacturing, Engineering and Processing, Mining, Environment and Natural Resources,

energy

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

The internship was at a small company that provides quotes and installations for various renewable energy technologies across the south west. Because the team I was working alongside was so small, I had a varied range of roles. I sized up heat demands for new builds and selected the pumps that would be installed for many projects. I relayed the potential energy generation and panel layout for solar PV projects. During the internship it quickly became apparent that my IT skills were far beyond that of anyone who worked for the company, so I was put to work updating the website, which hadn’t been touched in years.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I gained some real world work experience in the renewables sector – something that I never managed to engage in during or between years of my degree!

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Adding a layer of IT fluency no-one else had, taking over the website, social media management, and some aspects of administration, allowing others to focus on more technical aspects of the company. Most notably, I discovered techniques and simple software that drastically reduced the time needed to convert architect blueprints into usable measurements for heat loss calculations.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

During the second half of the internship business really slowed down – which is really to say that the first six weeks were unusually busy, and during that period I had very little downtime. When the technical side of my job got more quiet it was then I turned my attention to the IT side of things, but even then this did not completely solve the boredom that came up from a lack of work to do.

Junior Electronics Engineer – Michael J Watts Consultant

Access to Internships (A2I), Employer Feedback, Engineering, Manufacturing, Engineering and Processing

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What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My job was the design and development of prototype electronic design products. I worked on soldering and analogue design and also embedded software development.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My biggest achievement was bettering my programming skills as a whole.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

My experience surrounding electronics and I provided a different approach to looking at his problems.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

I met problems using components I had not used yet. Everyday day I have been learning new skills. I also learnt how to properly design PCB schematics which was something we did not learn at University.

“We have found Exeter graduates to be of extremely high calibre both technically and as employees; enthusiastic, thinking ‘outside the box’ and providing high quality work” – Line Manager

CALM Technical Support Officer – Centre of Addictive Layer Manufacturing

Employer Feedback, Engineering, Manufacturing, Engineering and Processing,

UoE Internships, University of Exeter Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My role was to support the team with business projects involving making prototypes and 3D CAD models. This could be for engineering applications or for artistic use of the manufacturing process. I also helped maintain the machinery and helped with presentations to companies.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

This internship has allowed me to gain experience related to my engineering skills but applying them to business situations.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I got stuck in to working straight away. I was asked to work with external business clients from the offset and was very successful in this work, with clients commenting to the team on how well I supported them.

“Adam proved to be a valuable member of our team” – Line Manager

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Intern – Fozmula Ltd

Employer Feedback, Engineering, Manufacturing, Engineering and Processing,

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I was responsible for continuing the development of a new oil depth measurement probe, including testing and design improvement. I also carried out extensive research regarding product compatibility and which of the company’s products are compatible with the many different types of fuels and fluids.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I developed many skills, including testing and improving products in an industrial environment, solving real world product issues using previous knowledge and working to deadlines and routines set by employees. I also developed many social skills, such as working on projects with other employees and regularly performing research by phoning and emailing other companies. Achievements include producing a database of all of Fozmula’s existing products, continuing with the development of a new measurement probe and solving issues with the design and making a successful presentation to the board of directors in the final week. After I finished work I was encouraged to apply for next year’s internship, which I would definitely be interested in, since I have realised I would like to pursue a career in electronic engineering design.

“Mike fitted in with the engineering team very quickly. We allocated various packages of work to Mike and he was able to pick these up with very little input and supervision from the rest of the team” – Line Manager

Graduate Technology Engineer – Plessey Semiconductors Ltd

Employer Feedback, Engineering, Manufacturing, Engineering and Processing,

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My task was to stop CVDW6 from producing ‘chimney’ defects at the contact plug. I ran various experiments to solve the defect problem and allow the tool to be used in production. These included varying physical parameters and gas flows for both the deposition and etchback processes. Possible elimination of the problem was achieved by introducing a tungsten spacer prior to the main deposition. The project also included learning to operate the films toolset, assisting with process transfer and development.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I have developed a deeper understanding of microelectronics and more effective communication skills.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I managed to solve the manufacturing problem.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

My first impression of being in the company was being swamped by acronyms, but much to my relief I managed to pick them up, and meetings no longer seemed to consist of people spouting code.

“Kat has become a valued contributor to the team. She responded to any requests with enthusiasm and energy and she performed every task professionally.” – Line Manager

Mechanical Engineer – Theta Technologies

Engineering, Manufacturing, Engineering and Processing,

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I spent time researching and learning the industry and how the company works. I designed and carried out experiments to gather data and then analyse and report said data. I also managed and conducted an individual project using NACE techniques, again conducting my own experiments and data analysis. I also designed and manufactured pieces of experimental equipment including C.A.D drawings.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

Understanding the NDT industry and techniques as well as conducting and completing my own project.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I collected and analysed vast amounts of data which has been used to prove/disprove certain hypotheses and also used in presentations to clients. Additionally, the equipment I designed and manufactured is now being used in the experimental procedure.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

My own project began with some problems however with the use of new equipment I was able to overcome this and achieve some good results.

Trainee Project Engineer – ND Precision Products

Engineering, Manufacturing, Engineering and Processing,

Engineering Internship, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My tasks included measuring products for repair jobs to create computer models of the product for the workshop team, assisting in designing tooling solutions and creating models and engineering drawings for a variety of products including repair jobs and tooling solutions. I was also trained in how to operate precision grinders and a CNC Lathe as well as a large variety of measuring equipment. I also improved some of the company’s advertising materials to be more suited to the oil and gas industry.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I vastly improved my knowledge of manufacturing techniques which improved my engineering drawings and design creativity.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I lightened the workload for my colleagues and taught the design engineer a few things about the SolidEdge ST6 program.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

I had very limited knowledge of manufacturing processes so some of my drawings were not helpful to the manufacturing team. I overcame this problem by getting training on some of the machines and showing some drawings to the experienced manufacturers to get a vast amount of advice.

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