Student Design Engineer - Powertrain Review

The placement at Triumph helped me gain a fantastic insight to the world of automotive design. I was given new and interesting challenges each day and was able to express my passion for bikes in the work I was doing.

I was given full responsibility of my work and was required to meet deadlines just my other colleagues were. I earnestly felt like a true member of the team. There were also regular out-of-work events where we could meet in a social context.

From the very first day I was given full guidance on how to do anything within my job role. I never needed to feel ashamed to ask any question and whenever I did ask, I was always given an answer.

I always had a full workload but the dealines set by myself and my supervisor meant that I always had adequate time to complete what I needed to. Dull days were a rarity.

I was given full ownership of my work. I was required to organise meetings, tests and so on. If ever there was any work to be done in my particular area, it was my job to get it done.

I was given training in the latest CAD softaware, and various other processing systems. I also learned alot about using standards and how they apply in the real world context. Learning these, along with other important skills such as professional communication, time management and professional development will help me to develop my work ethic not only for the remainder of my degree but also for the remainder of my career.

There were few days in the office where the wasn't a laugh. I got along very well with my work mates and looked forward to going into work every day. Although professionalism was always maintained, we could have fun with our work.

From the outset there was always a plan for us all as students and we were never left to feel as though we hadn't been considered when deciding workloads and project distribution. We received all the training we needed and were provided with all essential safety equipment.

As stundents, we received all the same training that any full time employee would receive we were able to attend professional development training as well as software training.

Very appealing. The job is always interesting, the pay is good, the company is fair and I looked forward to work every day. I am a personal fan of motorcycles and so getting a job engineering them is like a dream come true.

There were some social events organised such as sqush games and team meals. I did need to make the effort with the other placment students however, but once communications were established it was relatively good. I did find that being a student there was a bit of an age gap between myself and the full time employees so social interation could be a bit limited.

Relatively inexpensive. The rent was a bit more than it was in the student city I had come from, but because I was earning money throughout the year it worked out ok. The cost of socialising was about the same.

Being a fairly small town, there was a relatively reserved nightlife scene. A few pubs and a few restaurants.

As previously mentioned, there were some social events. I personally partook in a squash tournament, dodgeball tournament, mountain biking, go-karting and other social meals.