Category Archives: Mining and Minerals Engineering

Student Case Study: University of Exeter

Name of Student:  Athena Atkinson

Degree Subject: MSC Mining Engineering

Job Title: STEM intern

Company Name:  University of Exeter

Type of Internship: CEMPS Internship

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

It was my responsibility to collect STEM-related questions for use in the STEM Day quizzes. After the group of interns had finished their respective parts of the presentation, we switched it up to keep it exciting. I also worked on the Growth Mindset part, which highlights the importance of resilience in the learning process. The Growth Mindset was very interesting as I hadn’t heard about it before this project, and it taught me to have more patience about new academic challenges.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?  

The internship gave me the opportunity to collaborate with a confident group of interns and create activities and quizzes designed to inspire younger students considering STEM. We did this through a series of ‘STEM Days’, days where we would present our content to schools and colleges.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

Each member of the team had a specific activity to design and make for the STEM Days, where we would present our content to schools and colleges around the UK. I had to create a series of STEM-related quiz questions, which would engage the younger students and encourage thoughts about STEM subjects. I created questions for a range of different topics, and used menti.com to quiz the younger students in a virtual environment. This was very effective, and we were able to discuss each answer afterwards.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Organisation
  • Leadership
  • Strategic Planning
  • Decision Making

Attributes Developed:

  • Logical thinking
  • Creative thinking
  • Independence
  • Work Ethic
  • Professionalism

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

“I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of STEM Beyond Boundaries this summer. It gave me the opportunity to collaborate with a confident group of interns and create activities and quizzes designed to inspire younger students considering STEM. We did this through a series of ‘STEM Days’, days where we would present our content to schools and colleges. Digital platforms such as Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet were brilliant in widening participation from schools all over the UK. Each STEM Day was varied with a range of different age groups and number of students. The Q&A session at the end of the presentations were the best part of the internship as you could see what the students had taken in, listen to their thoughts about STEM, and discuss the next steps in their STEM journeys.”

Student Engagement and Employability – University of Exeter CLES

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

Completing tasks delegated by my line manager, assisting in activities regarding student engagement and employability within CLES. This included updating displays, compiling a database of placement opportunities and creating a mock-up of a website to showcase success stories of societies and groups associated with CLES.

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

I developed skills in efficient research techniques, as well as contacting an array of different people for informational purposes. I feel more confident in contacting businesses and organisations, alongside using the people around me to gain knowledge from their advice and experiences.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to complete tasks that have been otherwise neglected throughout the year, giving my full time and attention where this may not have otherwise been the case.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Problem solving, organisation, focus on goals and outcomes

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Commercial awareness, creative thinking, independence

Intern Energy Consultant – JRP Solutions

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

Outreach Assistant – University of Exeter, CEMPS

creative-desk-pens-school

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

During my placement I spent a good proportion of my time out of the office as well as in. When I was in the office I was helping to create educational resources as well as lessons in a box, in order to send out into local schools next academic year. When I was out of the office I was helping with a variety of outreach activities in order to promote CEMPS subjects to possible future students. In general I was trying to spread the idea that CEMPS subjects are fun and show that learning them will help everyone with their future career prospects.

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

I have definitely become much more confident when sharing my ideas and opinions. I have also done a fair amount of presentation speaking and these experiences have definitely prepared me to go into my final year.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to add a number of resources to the current pool of activities used for outreach in the department, and have also come up with more ideas that could be developed in the future.

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

The only problem  was waiting for purchased resources to arrive. This wasn’t the end of the world though as there was always plenty more to be getting on with.

“Eloise was able to provide a different perspective on the planned activities for sessions and worked well within the team. It has been extremely helpful to have an intern helping through this busy time in the year and has made a great contribution to our efforts” – Line Manager

Mining Engineer Intern – Freda Rebecca Gold Mine

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 1 month travelling between the different departments in the mine to get an overview of how the departments work with each other to create a smooth operation.

The internship itinerary included working with the following departments:
– Geology
– Rock Mechanics
– Ventilation
– Mine Planning
– Surveying
– Mining Methods
– Development
– Production
– Explosives and Rock Fragmentation
– Tramming & Hauling
– Ground Control
– Services and Major Production
– Mechanical, Electrical and Instrumentation
– Introduction to Processing and Allied Activities

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

I learnt a lot about how a real mining operation runs, and gained an appreciation of how much work goes in to making it successful.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

The company now has a tie with the faculty of Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter (CSM). This will mean that the company has more access to graduates coming out of a top institution in the field of mining engineering.

I also wrote reports for the departments displaying what I had learnt from them and outlining any improvements that I thought could be implemented to improve the operation.