RDD Engineer (Intern) Review

The internship year embodied everything that an ideal year should - responsibility from the beginning, an incredibly open and friendly working environment, and many opportunities to further my skills (be that academically or intrapersonally).

Highly - I enjoyed the responsibility of being trusted with rush work as part of a project, and also two projects of my own. My opinions and comments on work were appreciated and considered. It was clear that, I was here to learn and develop my skills, and therefore become a more useful and desirable employee.

I was given as much or as little support as I would have liked - with most new skills I was happily left to get stuck in, but if I had difficulties help was always available.

With the exception of an early training and transition period when I was not as busy as I would have liked, I have had plenty of work to do, both within and without my team. This was the first undergraduate internship program at Dyson, so this adjustment period was to be expected.

From the start of the placement year, I was treated like a fully qualified member of the team, not as an intern to give odd jobs to. I had two projects under my control (governed by me with supervision and insight from my peers). I worked autonomously with regular updates to my manager.

With skills such as meaningful design of experiments, six sigma and experience outside of my degree, the skills and training I have received will prove very valuable going forward. I am confident that they will make a large impact on the remainder of my university work, and also help with further employment.

The vast majority of people were very open, friendly and eager to offer advice. Whilst there is a degree of secrecy (for unreleased projects and development work) people are happy to share experiences and methods.

As this was the first internship program run by Dyson, it was less organised than I would have liked. The start date coincided with changes that ment some training was difficult to get on to, but I am confident that this will improve in the future.

We had the full range of training opportunities available within the company, including external courses. We were free to take any courses that were valuable, and we also enjoyed personal development sessions. There was also a lot of knowledge imparted throughout working with other memebers of my team.

The employment prospects at Dyson are very strong - at the time of writing this, work is underway for the expansion of the site and recruitment of 3,000 engineers. When the exp

Again, the vast majority of fellow placement students were very approachable and easy to get on with. Social events were frequent and highly enjoyable.

Living in the South West of England means things are a little more expensive than elsewhere - look hard and you can find a reasonably priced house or flat to live in. Socialiisng in Malmesbury is generally average to expensive, especially if you do not drive (be prepared to spend some money on taxis!).

Within the town of Malmesbury, there are a collection of pubs and some decent restaurants. I personally do not mind this, but am of the opinion that the pubs are overpriced and not very varied (in terms of style and drinks served). Other towns like Chippenham, Bristol and Bath are better for this, but are difficult to get to unless you drive.

There were several clubs run by members of staff within Dyson, including cycling, mountain biking and climbing, There is a group of staff that regularly go go-karting for a less athletic focus, and the Dyson Christmas Party was open to all.