Placement student, design and development engineer Review

As a student engineer I would supervise testing on parts and whole brake assemblies, discuss with technicians any alterations that need to be made to testing, and inspect parts and brakes during and after testing for analysis. I would compile information from visual inspections and numerical data to aid with the team's decisions, and write up reports based on the findings of the testing.
My job role also involved designing fixtures, parts, and reviewing and updating CAD models and drawings.

I felt like the work that I was doing genuinely contributed to the team and was given responsibility with that work. I was not in charge of any major projects but would present my work and could see how that work was used in decision making about next steps.

My skills in data analysis have improved as I have had the opportunity to use various data software tools during testing.
My CAD skills have improved, although the CAD software used by Cummins was much different to software that I had previously used, so I'm unsure how transferrable this skill is.
I have grown my skills at working and contributing to a project- sharing my ideas and findings and presenting my work.

As much as I needed. My colleagues were always able to answer any questions that I had and were always understanding that a student would need more support. However I was put into a team and had to learn as the project progressed, and there was not much training, which worked better for me as I do think it is best to be thrown into something and learn from experience.

Most people in the office seem to get on, and there is a social atmosphere during lunchtimes. In my first few months we would play 5-a-side football once a week after work. There was an end of year social event, a world cup sweepstake tournament, and there is somewhat of a diversity in personalities in the office.
There is an expectation of 8 hours per year of community service work, too, where colleagues would volunteer somewhere, like cleaning out a river, or handing out flyers for foodbanks, or painting a school, or promoting engineering to school-age children at careers fairs. These events are sometimes followed by a trip to the pub.

I enjoyed it and found it a valuable part of my development as an engineer. I am much more confident for my career after university and I am sure that having a year's experience will expedite the 'settling in' process in future jobs. I never found myself counting down the weeks until the end of the placement and was always happy to come into work.

Yes