September brings the return to school and University for students everywhere but many of them have kept busy over the long summer vacation.  We’ve have been lucky enough to host several inspiring students who have shown us that the future of engineering is certainly looking bright. 

Rather than seeing work experience students as a free resource for filing and those boring jobs which never seem to get done, our aim is to immerse them the world of engineering and give them a real taste of what the career involves.  

16 year old Rosie spent a week in the Manchester studio in August and one of her tasks was to fulfil a project brief for a drainage design project.  Rosie was provided with a project brief which described the existing site of the project and the proposed site, together with client information and the values and expectations of the local residents that the scheme would affect.  Rosie’s task was to provide a sketch that detailed the possible SuDs opportunities that could be introduced into the proposed site, whilst taking the local communities’ views into consideration. 

Rosie’s sketches illustrate a mature conception of a suitable scheme and show that she considered all aspects and proposed suitable drainage to overcome potential problems that she identified.  The project was the highlight of Rosie’s week in the studio but she also appreciated “being able to openly talk to staff about their jobs and listen to advice from them.” She also enjoyed seeing the day to day tasks that she would be responsible for as a Graduate Engineer.

Annie also spent a week in the Manchester studio in July. She  particularly enjoyed learning how to navigate structural engineering software and taking part in live projects.  The video shows her model of a bridge with its structural capability put into practice with a little bit of help from the stash of studio treats!

Finally we were joined by Georgia, for whom the bridge project was the highlight of her week with us.  She found it exciting to be able to use CAD/Tekla and gain practical experience of engineering tasks.

Our engineers appreciated the opportunity to inspire the next generation of engineers, and fingers crossed, we will welcome at least one of these budding engineers back in the future.  Indeed, a great example of how gaining experience can set you off on your career path, one of our newest London studio team members, Polly Natynczuk spent last summer as an Intern in the London studio. She recently graduated and we have now welcomed her back as a Graduate Engineer!