Summer Internship Review

I really enjoyed my summer placement at Buro Happold Engineering in Bath. From a technical point of view I was given many different tasks which provided me with an interesting insight to the way in which the company runs projects. From a working environment point of view, everyone welcomed me into the office, regardless of whether I was working with them. This provided an enjoyable working environment and atmosphere.

I felt very valued by my colleagues right from the start. They provided me with a small design and analysis task at the start of my placement and having worked on it for a week and a half, a meeting was arranged with the engineer and associate director in charge where they both gave me high praise. From then on my tasks grew in responsibility and I believe their value of me grew also. The AD mentioned at the end of my placement that she did not want me to leave.

Over my placement I ended up working for multiple people including the associate director of the project, 2 senior engineers, 4 engineers, and a few technicians. Regardless of how silly or frequently I asked questions they would always be committed in supporting me, with understanding that I was getting used to their way of engineering.

During the start of my placement I wasn't necessarily that busy however it was expected, however towards the middle and the end of my placement when deadlines were approaching I always had tasks to complete. Nevertheless, I never felt that I had too much to do so that I had to stay late or work over lunch. The atmosphere in the office encouraged working hard during the day but ensuring that good balance was found.

During the tasks I completed I feel my responsibility increased over the placement. My work was always checked by someone more senior than myself, however I always requested this so that I could gain feedback and improve for the next task. In one particular task I completed a set of analysis that resulted in being able to reduce the size of the steel sections, the senior engineer in charge was immediately happy with the work I had completed and implemented the change.

The placement provided me with my first opportunity to work on a big civil and structural engineering project, as well as working with concrete, steel and timber. Therefore the skills that are required to tie this all together will be extremely helpful in my studies and future career. Ensuring that all calculations were clear for when you had to go back to them was a particular skill that I will take forward!

The general atmosphere in the office was very welcoming and friendly. On my first day everyone was very chatty and wanted to show me exactly what they were working on and why it interested them so much. This extended past the team I was in to seemingly the whole office. I got involved with a few of the young engineers' events and thoroughly enjoyed them and felt very welcome to join in.

The whole placement was very organised, from interview to the last day. Buro Happold maintained contact whilst I was still at university to organise my start date and my best location. Then during my placement my team was very organised in what tasks I would complete and also when I had requested days off for important occasions. There were also a few other interns there at the same time and a few events were held for us to get to know each other.

The company invested a fair bit into me whilst there on my placement. There were multiple talks at lunchtime for CPD and events in the evening from external organisations. But most of all we were invited on a trip to the TATA steel works in South Wales. This was a whole day trip with 30 employees attending. The company ensured we got the most out of it and paid for travel there and back.

The future employment prospects are great within the company, during the end of my placement I was contacted by the graduate recruiter who detailed the next steps of the process. This really helped me understand both what Buro Happold thought of its interns as well as the graduate process. Talking to some of the other graduates working at Buro Happold also enlightened me on the employment prospects. They were able to tell me what the company was like from their perspective, and all of which had nothing bad to say.

There was a small social scene around the young engineers mainly. A softball match was arranged with a local architects firm that was great to be a part of. They also sent a weekly newsletter detailing what was occurring each week, which mainly finished with Friday in the pub. It was great to get to know some of the other graduates outside of work.

Bath is quite an expensive place to live however living in the city and being able to walk to work meant I had no commuting costs. Lots of the other young people in the office lived in Bristol and go the train to Bath each morning. I believe this is because it is cheaper to live there and more young people do too. The cost of socialising is not that expensive but not that cheap either.

Having lived near Bath for a while the nightlife is good however is not really my scene.