Industrial manufacturing engineering student Review

In my role as a manufacturing engineer at BAE Systems, Naval ships I was placed in four different teams; tooling design team, Janet Harvey Hall, strategic investment and electrical and combat system. Each team was a different path in manufacturing, on a day to day basis for the tooling team I was reverse engineering, learning a new CAD software where I made Jigs and a seat. I learnt auto desk inventor where I made these models and produced engineering drawings, I had to learn BAE systems software of uploading documents for future use and comply with their code of conduct. In the Janet Harvey hall team, which is a new construction facility for shipbuilding I supported with many tasks such as taking on a project individually for creating component kitting. This involved me in creating a solution for a problem within the shipyard and presenting a range of solutions to a wide range of stakeholders, taking in feedback and improving the solutions. In the strategic investment team I was supported another colleague with a BAE systems 12 step process which included working with project management to improve machines and improving health and safety issues. One of the projects which I worked on was looking into solutions for a new machine within the facility, I went through bae systems documents and submitting them after doing research on new solutions. Finally in the last team with electrical and combat systems, I had the chance to work on a cost improvement project where I looked at solution to benefit the company effectively with cost. This involved me working with different disciplines of engineering and figuring out what is the best way to level pads on the product, as this was causing downtime and delays in working efficiently. Overall my day to day tasks was working in a team and also individually with experienced engineers, organising and attending meetings and getting involved with engineering challenges.

Yes, during my placement I was given a lot of responsibility in the part of taking on projects by myself, reporting back to my managers and also having the responsibility to ensure the task was done correctly and gained feedback. Every task I was presented with in each team had a part in the product, so I had to take responsibility and prioritising tasks to ensure I didn’t make small mistakes which could affect future use of documents.

The skills I developed were mostly my technical skills, talking to experienced engineers to gain new technical knowledge and applying this to my projects. One of my key points during my placement was to improve my technical knowledge so I can take it back to my third year and apply this. The existing skills which I developed was prioritisation and organisation, these skills are something I acquired during university however being in a industrial environment I had the chance to organise better during the tasks I was given and how I could take this back to university for my final year.

I received a lot of support during my placement being assigned a placement support tutor who regularly checked in with me ensuring my placement throughout the year was going smoothly. In my placement I had a supervisor who supported me along my journey throughout bae systems seeing if I needed any support.

Moving to Scotland was a big leap for me as it was my first time moving out of home and by myself so I was very anxious and nervous starting my placement. But my company culture and atmosphere was welcoming, I gained a couple of friends during my placement but overall it was comfortable. Being a female in a heavy male environment I didn’t feel no difference in how both genders were treated, I got along well with all co workers and felt comfortable enough to approach them if I needed any help.

In every work place there are some tasks that you will enjoy and some tasks that you don’t , however for me if I didn’t enjoy a task I know I had other tasks to work along with that I did enjoy. I enjoyed my placement alot because it was different to what I do in university, but the skills and experience I gained is something I can take with me in university and help me achieve first classes in my modules.

Yes