Hydro-mechanical Engineering Intern Review

The placement was interesting, engaging and extremely varied. I was involved in qualification testing of the hydro-mechanical engine control system for a turbo-fan jet engine. This involved a wide variety of tasks in both test administration and technical roles. It is worth noting that, because each intern to Rolls-Royce Control Systems is allocated to a different team, experiences varied significantly.

Generally, extremely well. I had the opportunity to work with hundreds of people across many departments and the vast majority did not treat me any different to a more experienced employee. As with any job, there were some with less communication skills than others, but I don’t think anyone was working on bad intensions.

Despite being extremely busy, my manager was very helpful and always happy to answer or defer any questions I raised. However, this was often required on an individual basis only because some other areas of the business had not adequately prepared for the incoming interns. Even so, this may be due to a recent merger with Rolls-Royce.

After the first month or so of understanding the way the company worked, my workload increased steadily from comfortable to busy (but not stressed). I never found I had nothing to do but also never that I was overloaded for more than a few days - a good balance, generally. Again, this may be due to the small size of my time meaning my help was often required.

Similar to that of a graduate engineer and in some cases higher. I was asked to hold responsibility for significant investigations and qualification tests and to provide management for the wider team in some areas. To complement this, I was given significant independence and largely left to complete my work as fast as possible but without adverse pressure.

Although much of what I have learned has been specific to the business or to this industry – the processes we use and the function of the products we create, I also think that much of what I have learnt is transferable. Aside from the improvements I have made with the standard transferable skills (administration, planning, communication etc.), I have learnt a lot about how to apply and fully understand the theoretical stuff from university.

As I began my placement, the company was in the progress of a move from an older building to a newly built facility with a focus on modern design, agile working. Both facilities have open-plan working spaces and no separate offices but the new facility builds on this further, focusing on ‘agile’ working with a completely open-plan office space and many extra areas to work in – the idea being that you are free to work in whichever environment is best for you. The general atmosphere is relaxed but efficient with the only requirement being that you complete your work quickly and as requested – beyond that there seems to be no problem with taking breaks, talking or working elsewhere in the building.

As mentioned earlier, the administrative side of the placement was not great at all. On arrival there were many IT and HR issues to sort out and these were not covered in our induction, leaving the burden up to each interns individual managers. It is worth noting that the company has recently fully merged with Rolls-Royce and was previously Aero Engine Controls and then Controls and Data Services. This may improve the HR and admin side of the coming years, hopefully solving these problems for new interns.

Despite the admin difficulties involved in setting up training, the company still made a huge investment in the development of interns. I attended numerous training sessions with no problem obtaining approval from my manager. The company also supported me in attending extra-curricular and outreach activities such as helping out in schools as a STEM Ambassador.

Very - I would be happy to return to work at RRCS (Rolls-Royce Control Systems) or at another Rolls-Royce site. The company offers a sponsorship scheme for direct entry on to the graduate scheme for those who have completed a placement year and pass the reqirements of the end-of-placement performance review.

Yes - on arrival I was introduced to the Rolls-Royce Birmingham Graduate Committee who organise varied monthly social events. I was also part of the Birmingham Intern Committe, founded similarly to organise events and solve issues specific to interns. The population of placement students and recent graduates at the Birmingham site was significant with at least 20 full year placement students and many more graduates.

With the old site (Shaftmoor Lane) being in Hall Green and the new one (Derwent Building) in Solihull Business Park, the majority of interns and graduates lived in the centre or the east of Birmingham. The costs of living here were relatively cheap since many interns and graduates organised house shares within these groups. The cost of socialising was slightly more expensive but no more than the average for the west midlands.

With Birmingham being a large city with many smaller town centres, there was no shortage of nightlife. The majority of the events we set up would be in Solihull, Moseley or the City Centre. The city is also host to many major universities, meaning that the student population is significant which further contributes to this.

There were many opportunities available within the area, with some being organised within the company. Birmingham is a large, diverse city with no shortage of extra-curricular opportunities. As stated earlier, the company was happy to support me and many others in attending many of these of activities, where they pertained to the business needs.