Guidance, Control and Navigation - Summer Placement Engineer Review

I found my placement challenging but rewarding. During my time at MBDA I have learnt a great deal about the methods and software used in control engineering and also about the defence industry as a whole. The company offers a variety of different areas in which to work and has a large number of graduates and undergraduates working on every project. On the whole I found it very enjoyable.

As with any new job, the first few weeks were spent catching up with the rest of the team. However, once I had a good understanding of my role, I involved in many decisions and brought into meetings to give presentations. Occasionally I was also called on to consult about issues in the area I was working in and my opinions and ideas were taken seriously and with respect. My one criticism would be that due to the multitude of projects the company takes on, project are teams are often distributed in different departments and so I was not located near other members of my team. This may have possibly prevented a stronger relationship being formed.

If I needed guidance, my team were always willing to help, although as it was a summer placement they were often away on holiday, which sometimes made it hard to find the right person to talk to. Aside from that, I was given all the support I needed.

As I had a single task and I was able to work flexible hours, I was able to set my own goals for progress and so I always had the right amount of work to do. Occasionally I would be asked to contribute to a presentation or report and would have to work to a deadline, but aside from that I was able to work at my pace throughout the placement.

During my placement I worked alone on a small number of algorithms which could be tested and implemented independently from the rest of the project. With respect to my own project, I was completely responsible for everything I did on a daily basis, with no instructions given on how to proceed. However, I was only responsible for a single main task so I couldn’t stray too far from what was requested of me.

The skills I have developed during my time at MBDA are potentially useful in any job involving control engineering and any control modules in my following years at university. Should I decided to take a job which involves this kind of work, they are very helpful indeed.

As a defence company, many of the projects are highly secret, which limits the amount of discussion that takes place in the office. Although not dull, the office is usually very quiet and in general everyone is here to work rather than have fun. However, there are a large number of graduate and undergraduate placements available, which means there were many other young people in a similar situation to myself, making it easy to find people to spend time with during lunch or after work.

MBDA have a large intake of student placements every year and as a result the process is extremely streamlined and well thought out. There are separate procedures in place for every situation where a placement differs from regular employees, and so I found it very easy to start work here, despite the short time I spent with the company.

MBDA invests a large amount in their employees and offers extra funding for training to be used for whatever people feel they want to learn, such as learning other languages or even learning to drive. Unfortunately this is not available to summer placements, however I was given all the training I needed to do my job, and I have acquired many programming skills since starting work at MBDA. The company say that summer placements are more of an extended interview, and should a student perform well during the placement, they offer a place on the graduate scheme after university. In this way the company does invest in placement students, only not so much during the placement itself.

I have spent a large amount of time working and talking with recent university leavers who are now employed on the company graduate scheme. MBDA view summer placements as an extended interview, and should a student perform well during the placement, they offer a place on the graduate scheme after university. Currently, the vast majority of summer placements return to MBDA on either year placements or the graduate scheme, so I am hopeful about future prospects. With many different projects and areas to work in, if I were to return to the company I would hope to do so in a different department so as to get a broader understanding of the way in which things work.

Before the placement started, the company invites all new students to join a facebook group. This allowed me to find two other summer placements to live with during my time with MBDA. The company takes in a large number of students every year and this year the social scene was really good. The current students on year placement were coming to the end of their time here, so often organised events such as karting or nights out in Bristol. This made it easy to make friends here at MBDA and I had a good time whilst not working in the office. A nice tradition is that every Thursday all the students go to a local pub for lunch, which also helped me settle in.

I found a house very close to the company site, which meant I could walk in every day and avoid paying for petrol or a bus. However, the company is not located in one of the most desirable parts of Bristol but this did keep the rent down. As for socialising, the centre of Bristol is around 20mins away by car or train so socialising was easy and not too expensive.

The nightlife was reasonable. Bristol has a large student population but over summer this leads to a number of clubs being quite empty. Generally we stuck to a small number of clubs in the very centre of the city. There are also lots of pubs and bars around, so it’s a good night out.

Although not organised by work, many of the other students had already found things such as sport clubs or activities, so joining in was just a matter of talking to the right people. I imagine that if I was a more sporty person then many more opportunities would have been available than I have chosen to take.