Systems Engineer Review

Both placements i did were very enjoyable, however, if I had to choose one, based on how much I enjoyed the work, I would say the testing and integration role.

Everyone I worked with has been fantastic. For the first 6 months I was working alongside a lot of subcontractors who made me welcome in to the company, and for the second six months i spent quite a lot of time travelling around to various sites with colleagues to the likes of Paris and Rome, and so we spent a lot of time together and got on really well.

Both of my supervisors/ line managers have been brilliant in ensuring that i have had the correct training, and also that I have had enough work to eb doing, without overloading me at the same time. HR have also been helpful throughout the placement, and the overall structure of the placement scheme here is fantastic.

I always felt like thewre were things to be getting on with, but never really felt like i was being severley over worked. Obviously there are the odd days where you are either working to the bone or trying to find things to do, but on the whole, the workload was ideal.

Placement 1 - Test team - I was given a chunk of work to do alongside two other colleagues, which needed to be completed in time for the various firing trials that were being carried out. Therefore it wasnt so much individual responsibility as such, but because our 'sub-team' was so small, we were required to work very efficiently. Placement 2 - UK MBSE Capability - Again, the team i was placed in was very small, with only 4 permanent members (including myself and 1 other graduate), so in that respect, quite a lot of responsibility was placed on everyones shoulders. I have had to present ideas to international teams on several occasions and produce documentation to meet deadlines.

As I'm doing Aeronautical Engineering at uni, as opposed to systems engineering, I havent found that many of the skills will help my degree, however, I have learned a lot about systems engineering in my time here, and had a lot of exposure to products such as IBM Rational Rhapsody, DOORS and Serena Dimensions, which are all commonly used in industy and becoming more and more popular with engineering companies.

In the first six months i was placed in a large office, which had a lot going off all the time, however, the second placement was a lot quieter, as i was placed in the same office as the MD and so things were generally a bit quieter. Our team area was still a good laugh though.

Brilliantly. There is an interaction week (kind of like freshers week at uni, apart from you have to go to work too. But they do pay for your meals and give you drinks expenses!) which is aimed at team bonding with the undergraduates and graduates. It was a really good way to start the year off. Even before the placement had started, there was an introduction day a couple of months or so before the start date, which was a great way to break the ice.

During the first six month placement, a lot of the training was on the job type training, however on the second placement i was sent on various courses (some of which were very expensive) which really helped me with the work, and will also be great to put on my CV.

I've been told that there is a good chance they will offer us a place on the grad scheme, but it depends on the intake for that year, but if neccesary they may offer us a place in a different department if the places are limited.

Really great set of people. The interaction week was a great way to kick things off, and there seems to be a lot of young people working at MBDA which has been good. There aren't many official MBDA type socials arranged (i.e. no bristol based social club), but people tend to organise nights out and sports such as 5 a side all the time.

I was living in Clifton with friends from home who were students at Bristol uni, and the place we were staying was quite expensive (about 4,500/year) and the bills tended to be quite expensive as it was an old listed building with single glazed windows etc. but it was in SUCH a nice area, and I definatley wouldnt change it! I would 100% reccomend living in Clifton or Redland as opposed to Filton, or anywhere else closer to work, as Clifton is only about 4.5 miles away from work, but it is only a walk away from the city centre and there is clifton village which is so nice.

Bristol nightlife was awesome. There is always a club for every type of night. Me personally, I'm in to Indie/Live music, and there are loads of venues playing gigs, and clubs with Indie DJ sets. However there are also DnB, Dub step, cheese etc nights out every night. Also, there are a lot of cool little pubs if you fancy just going for a drink. I tended to stick to Clifton Village if i was just going for a drink, and for a night out, we would go closer to the centre.

If you like sport, then yes. I played in a local 5 a side league set up for the Aerospace companies in the area (mainly Airbus and MBDA), and also had the chance to play for a cricket team in the local aerospace league. I'm not so sure about activities other than this really, as the bristol site doesn't have a dedicated social club.