Mechanical Engineering Summer Placement Review

During my placement, I was placed on a joint project with the electronics engineering interns. My day-to-day usually included CAD or structural or thermal analysis. There were also occasional tours to various facilities that they have on site and how they are used within the company. Additionally, there were a lot of opportunities to interact with higher ups and experts within the company who were all very approachable.

The main responsibility of the project was to have a deliverable physical project by the end of the placement, nothing much was given in addition, however the project was the main focus of the presentation anyways if you're enthusiastic about it, you can ask for more.

For technical skills, I learnt to use a new CAD software which is something I did not have a lot of experience with on my course. I also got familiar with Ansys Workbench, particularly Ansys Mechanical and Fluent, which are FEA and CFD software. Furthermore, I had developed my presentation and communication skills, building my confidence, as we had to present our progress at the end of each week.

I had a lot of guidance and support during the internship. We had short meetings with our coordinator most days in the mornings to share progress and any advice he could provide. Furthermore, the experts during the projects were always willing to answer any questions or have a meeting to discuss anything. The HR and recruiting department were also available to answer any questions.

The company culture was ones of the things I appreciated the most during my placement. All the staff (even higher-ups within the company) were very friendly, helpful and ready to answer any questions when asked.

I would say I thoroughly enjoyed my placement at MBDA. I am very likely to return for a grad scheme

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