Geometric Validation Intern Review

by BMW Group UK

Rating

3.9/5
  • Skills
    4.3
  • Responsibilities
    4.0
  • Support & Guidance
    4.0
  • Culture
    3.0
  • Your Impressions
    4.3

    Overview

  • 1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.
  • I undertook two main roles during my placement. When working on XR projects, my day to day work would often involve a lot of research, development and debugging in the Unreal Engine. When working on door topics, my day could consist solely of performing tests on car doors and flaps using a robot-arm testing system. Equally, I could spend a day cleaning and interpreting data, as well as generating plots that could help improve our understanding.


    Skills

  • 2. Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?
  • In terms of existing skills, it was interesting to see problem solving techniques such as Ishikawa Diagrams actually used, as this was something I struggled to understand the relevance of while studying. My computer-literacy has developed the most, having to learn two new pieces of software and generate a lot of spreadsheets. The highlights for me would be my experience using the Unreal Engine to support engineering problem-solving and operating a robot arm system to test car doors.


  • How would you rate the training provided during your experience?
  • 4/5

  • How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?
  • 4/5

  • How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?
  • 5/5

  • Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development
  • 4/5

    Responsibilities

  • 3. Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?
  • The nature of my role in XR meant I was essentially my own boss and solely responsible for my work. In this sense I had complete responsibility for developing functionality and completing projects, very rarely working collaboratively. In my role working on door analysis, I was for several weeks the only trained person on the robot system on the plant, and was responsible for providing initial training and support for my colleagues during my placement.


  • Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was
  • 4/5

    Support & Guidance

  • 4. How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?
  • When working on XR, short of some training material put together by previous interns in my role there was little practical support, and most was left to independent learning. However, weekly meetings with colleagues who 'steered' the XR project alongside their day-to-day roles gave me focus. When working on doors, I received a lot of support, three colleagues visited from Germany to help train us on the robot system, and supported with analysis.


  • How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?
  • 3/5

  • How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?
  • 5/5

    Culture

  • 5. What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?
  • Everyone I worked with was really friendly and willing to help, and there was a good team atmosphere in my department that I felt a part of, despite my niche role. People took an interest in the work I was doing and engaged with it. I am not sure what I was expecting but it was much more relaxed than I thought it would be. In an office of mostly white middle aged men, the workplace could obviously have been more diverse and there were one or two conversations I overheard that did make me uncomfortable however, sadly I think the diversity and inclusivity was probably a lot better than it is in most companies of a similar nature.


  • How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?
  • 3/5

  • How would you rate the social opportunities?
  • 5/5

  • How would you rate the diversity initiatives?
  • 1/5

  • How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?
  • 3/5

    Your Impressions

  • 6. To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?
  • I have enjoyed my placement a lot, the work has been engaging and felt valued, even if it had very little relevance to my degree. I have made a lot of new friends and experienced the highs and lows of professional life. I cannot pretend everything was rosy all the time but no placement will ever be like that, and that is part of the experience. That being said, reflecting on it now, I had a lot of fun and have learnt a lot too.


  • Please rate your level of enjoyment on your placement / internship
  • 5/5

  • Please rate how your experience met your expectations
  • 5/5

  • Please rate the future employment prospects at BMW Group UK
  • 3/5

  • 7. Would you recommend BMW Group UK to a friend?
  • Yes


  • 8. What advice would you give to others applying to BMW Group UK
  • In the application process, be enthusiastic and engaged. Remember, on top of as your skills and experience, your manager is looking for someone that they want to share an office space with! The same applies if you do secure a placement. You will only ever get as much out of a placement at BMW as you put it. It is a big place and as an intern it is very easy to slip away into obscurity if you do not put yourself out there and get involved.


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Details

Placement (10 Months+)

Mechanical Engineering

South East

July 2023


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