Vacation Student (Building Services - Mechanical) Review

Each day can look different depending on the projects underway and the work available. Generally it looks like being in an office with the team, collaborating and learning from those around you. I have learned and applied software as part of a real building project, learned calculations, been a part of team and office life, attending CPD and skill sharing meetings, visited sites and performed initial feasibility calculations.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility, being given tasks relating to real-life building projects which contributed directly to the work being done. At the same time I was well supported by my team, encouraged to ask questions while also being encouraged to problem-solve and have a go myself.

I have learnt how to use a heat transfer modelling software, developing my software skills and deepening my understanding of the physics of heat transfer in a building. I have developed my skills in using psychrometric charts and learnt new skills of understanding heating and cooling loads on buildings and the design of the associated systems. I have developed my skills in problem solving when presented with calculation task, to determine and find the relevant information in regulation and guidance documents.

I received a really strong level of support. The office is a really welcoming and collaborative space with people very happy to answer questions as needed. There is mandatory training at the start of the internship, much of which is discipline-specific to bring interns up to a base-level of understanding of the topic. While this training is very beneficial, it is not delivered in the most engaging way as it is all through Moodle learning bursts. It is thorough and at a good level to bring students up to a good starting point.

When I first arrived in the office I was immediately aware of how friendly and welcoming the environment was. Lots of people from across the disciplines within the team made sure to come and introduce themselves. The company as a whole greatly values collaboration and aims to continually improve the team's ability to do so well. People seem to enjoy spending time with each other, eating lunch together and joking in and amongst the work. People are very good at asking for advice and posing questions to the wider team about their work and sharing insight from their project tasks.

I really enjoyed the working environment, I really enjoyed the variety of projects I got to have an insight into, from industrial facility services, to new residential building design, to the repurposing of spaces and the retrofitting of old buildings to bring a new lease of life. I enjoyed the range of tasks the role entails, and the opportunities to go and visit project sites. I think the summer is a less busy time of work which in some ways means there is less work to do and between project work that crops up it can get a little boring, but even then I was still working alongside great people which was great.

Yes