Mechanical Engineering Placement Student Review

I worked as a Mechanical Design Engineer for the Structural and Bottom-End Design department for 6 months, working on the large complex parts of the powerunit, such as the crankcase, crankshaft, conrods, and pistons, etc. My day-to-day tasks involve diagnosing faults within the powerunit to understand the root cause of these issues, as well as brainstorming and designing solutions and containment actions for these faults. I also worked within the Advanced Technology area of the business on future roadcar powertrain concepts, where I helped to fix issues during build and testing of these future concepts, as well as design new parts for them.

I have learnt a number of new skills during my placement. This includes a wide variety of new computer software skills, especially in CATIA and Siemens NX. These are the main CAD software used within the business, and a large focus is on the ability to make well constructed, reliable parts to allow for easy manufacture and modification in the future if required. I have spent time learning to use surfacing tools which are critical for several areas of the power unit. It has further helped to develop my engineering intuition and skills, as I take on full responsibility for projects, and have to come up with solutions and ideas myself.

Yes, I was given an unprecedented level of responsibility within both the departments I worked in. As a placement student, there was no 'busy work' assigned to me, from day 0, I was working on real projects that would actually have an effect on the powerunit. This allowed me to learn to develop my engineering intuition and skills very quickly, as it can be a swim or sink type environment sometimes. It is your responsibility to manage your projects and time as well as you can, and you are expected to seek out advice from areas of the business when required.

There is a well designed network of support during the placement, and a team within the business dedicated to helping with learn and development for the students. Plenty of training was provided for the skills required in the business, although there is an expectation of learning on the job too. The student program is well developed, so there are regular reviews of performance to ensure you are performing as required, which also gives you the opportunity to provide feedback and discuss concerns. Online training platforms allow you to increase your skills and training as desired.

The general company culture is positive, everyone is there for the same goal... to win. This means that people are happy to support and help you in order to achieve this. However, this can be a draw back, in the fact that long hours are expected to finish projects, and it could be seen that an insufficient number of people are employed to complete the required amount of work. Naturally, there is a lot of disappointment when things don't go as would be liked, however it is important that a hopeful atmosphere remains.

I have found my placement to be very beneficial to me. The skills that I have learnt and developed during the placement will be beneficial not just when I return to university for the rest of my degree, but also in providing me experience of the future world, and what engineering is actually like outside of an educational setting. There have been tough moments, and long nights, but on the whole, the placement has been a positive experience, with a lot of value obtained by me.

Yes

Make sure you prepare well for the application and interview. Know your engineering fundamentals, and have a wide range of experience and projects that you are prepared to talk about. The people within the business who will interview you are very experienced within their subject area, so they can tell how competent or correct you are about the statements that you are making. This means that lying or making exaggerated claims is unwise, as they are able to tell whether they think you will fit into the business easily.