Aerodynamics Engineer - Summer Placement Review
at MBDA
Internship (1 Month+)
Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering
Filton
Review Submitted: September 2023
Overall Rating
5 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
5/5
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Overview of Role
5/5
-
Skills Development
5/5
-
Support and Guidance
5/5
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Company Culture
5/5
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Overall Experience
5/5
-
Future Career Prospects
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.
My role was in the aerodynamics department was to use in house aerodynamic tools as well as develop new and upcoming coding tools in MATLAB and Python. I would have regular meetings every other day to ensure colleagues are kept up to date with my progress, this also gave me the opportunity to ask questions and advice on my work. Half way during my placement I had an interim presentation where I collaborated with another summer placement student and demonstrated our work towards stakeholders. Furthermore, at the end of my placement myself and my colleague gave a final presentation summarizing our findings.
Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?
During my internship I was responsible for developing code colleagues were actually using, this meant I was responsible for making tools work better. Furthermore, the work I was doing was unique meaning the results and discussion I proposed mattered. Finally I was given the responsibility of meeting deadlines and creating meetings with other summer placement students while collaboratively creating presentations. Overall I was given project work which was actually interesting and tested my knowledge and skill.
Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was
5/5
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?
This placement was a great environment to learn new technical and soft skills. One main example was to be able to use comprehensive aerodynamics simulation software and use its results to the help my project. Another example is MATLAB, I went from not knowing the basic syntax to be able to read other people's code and start to create my own. There was also an emphasis on Python which tested my current skill set while developing it further. Finally, through the means of presentations throughout my placement, it allowed me to gain confidence in my speaking ability especially when it came to technical content.
How would you rate the training provided during your experience?
5/5
How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?
5/5
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
5/5
Support and Guidance
How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?
During my placement I had received plenty of support and guidance across the whole department. Throughout my placement my line manager was a big source of technical support, this ranged from double checking my analysis of results to helping make sure I had everything I needed to complete my work at all times. Furthermore, if I was was curious to learn more about a certain area, people in the department were more than happy to give a crash course in what they do and offer help.
How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?
5/5
How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?
5/5
Company Culture
What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?
With MBDA being my first experience in an engineering role I was delighted to find a supportive working environment. In my first week I was introduced face to face with a buddy and was taken around the office to get the opportunity to speak to many people from the department. Everybody was very welcoming and through out my placement was considered just as a valued as any other employee. The general atmosphere was nice as it felt as you could ask any question with no pressure.
How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?
5/5
How would you rate the social opportunities?
5/5
How would you rate the diversity initiatives?
5/5
How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?
5/5
Overall Experience
To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?
I really enjoyed my placement as I was fortunate enough to gain new insights into aerodynamics which I had not experienced at university. Being able to work with colleagues and develop software tool capabilities was really fun, as I got to understand what colleagues do day to day. I also really enjoyed learning the life cycle of MBDA's products and understanding where the aerodynamics department fit in that life cycle. Lastly one aspect I really enjoyed at MBDA was dynamic working, it allows you to work less on one day and balance it by working more on others, allowing good flexibility.
Please rate your level of enjoyment on your placement / internship
5/5
Please rate how your experience met your expectations
5/5
Future Career Prospects
Please rate the future employment prospects at MBDA
5/5
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend MBDA to a friend?
Yes
What advice would you give to others applying to MBDA
Make sure you clearly read the job description and tailor your application towards it. Examples could come from academic student societies or even just from university projects. It's important to show your enthusiasm in the area your applying for as well as give examples of university projects in that area. Also try to do a small bit of research into what the company does, its an opportunity to get excited about the company and impress them with your knowledge and motivation. For the assessment center its important to show a balance between listening as well as voicing your thoughts in a group scenario. For the interview be prepared to give examples of real life scenarios either from part time jobs or university group projects to answer questions. If you're asked something you don't know just talk through your thought process as you reach a conclusion. Finally don't get too pressured, be yourself and don't give up in applying !
