R&D Engineer Review

My role involves laboratory research, writing engineering reports, designing components for manufacture and carrying out failure analysis. On average I spend about 50% of my time in the labs and 50% of my time at my desk; I really enjoy this balance of practical and computer based work. In the labs I develop new products and perform testing in order to improve current products. At my desk I analyse my results, create written and oral presentations, research specific knowledge/formulas and communicate with my team members.

I have developed so many new skills this year. Technically, I have had the opportunity to use a wide variety of laboratory equipment that would not have been available to me at university. I have been given specific training in bioprocessing, Autodesk Inventor and project management. I believe Pall is very invested in your personal development, so if you express an interest in a particular area or piece of equipment, they will try very hard to give you opportunities to advance your learning in this field. My soft skills such as organisation and communication are also greatly improved from having to balance multiple projects and tasks on a daily basis.

I have been given an incredible amount of responsibility during my internship! From the start I have been given meaningful work that directly impacts the products Pall makes. This level of responsibility has been increased due to working under Covid conditions, with the majority of my team members working from home while I was in the lab. Although the high level of responsibility was scary at first, I believe it has made the quality of the work I produce very high, as I knew I was fully responsible for the decisions I made and for communicating the work I produced clearly to my project mangers.

The support from everyone at Pall has been amazing. My team are always happy to help me with anything I have difficulty with and, most importantly, they clearly want their interns to do well. My line manager in particular has been so supportive of me throughout the year despite working from home. There is also a really lovely community of interns and graduates. We get to meet each other regularly in the Intern Breakfast Club.

The general company culture is focused but friendly. Although, it is difficult for me to say because most people are working from home at the moment.

I enjoyed my internship so much!

Yes

Research the company and be yourself.