Thomas Ellison - Summer STEM Work Placement Student - Weekly Reports

The STEM placement students are sending us weekly blogs all about their experience in the world of work! 

Work experience is great and it provides students with many benefits whilst gaining skills and helping choose the right future career path for pupils. Having work experience on a Curriculum Vitae will make a person stand out to employers as they will notice they have motivation and a real passion for work. It will also help to boost a students confidence in themselves!

See how Thomas is getting on with his STEM placement! 

Week One

"A week into my placement at a geotechnical engineering firm, I've had a busy couple of days. My research is based around the use of CLEA model, an Excel program which is used to model when the amount of a certain chemical in an area becomes hazardous to human health, so I've had to learn how to use the model and Excel itself, which I hadn't used in a good three years. 

After a crash course in the program and the mechanics behind it, I got to grips with using the model by using a spreadsheet of data on various chemicals to model the parameters for each of them in a house with homegrown vegetables ad compare them to predetermined results to see if I was using it correctly. Subsequently, I was able to use the model to determine the values for public areas such as parks, which had yet to be modelled by the company.

 Finally, I was given a list of new chemicals which had yet to be modelled and had to put them through the model in each of the different area parameters I've used so far. I've just finished that and managed to successfully determine the values for those chemicals. It's been a very interesting time and I'm excited to see what's next." 

Week Two

"At the end of my second week of Work Experience, I've had another busy week. Initially, I moved onto looking at water contamination and the parameters used to determine whet her a chemical will prove dangerous if leaked. I've now moved onto modelling the vapour pathways used to determine the amount of a chemical that escapes into the air in a building when there is a contaminant in the ground beneath. This is an interesting avenue of research because the previous model used has been found to be inaccurate, so I am actively looking into and setting up alternatives.

It's been a very nice experience so far with both the interesting work I've been doing and the lovely people at the office, who've been very friendly and accommodating. I look forward to my next week here."

Week Three 

"This week, I’ve been creating a model to calculate vapour migration pathways based on my research into the topic last week. This has involved me creating several complex Excel spreadsheets with loads of interlinked equations to model all the different potential pathways. I then had to go through each one of these tables with pre-determined values to ensure the accuracy of the model and clear up any problems in the equations. 

Finally, I’ve put together a comprehensive guide to using the model, citing all the sources. It’s been a hectic few days and I’m glad to be able to have the weekend off to relax."

Week Four 

"During my fourth and final week at CGL, I've spent most of my time tidying up loose ends, going through the work I've done over the last month to make sure it's all completely finished and formatted correctly. It's given me the opportunity to reflect on everything I've learnt in this time - it's incredible to think that, just a few weeks ago, I knew nothing about Geotechnical Engineering, yet I've now generated the data and created a model that they'll use to write their assessments. I've also sat down with various members of the company to discuss projects both old and new to find out more about what they do, which has been just fascinating to see. 

Overall, this has been an incredible opportunity, which has taught me a lot about this invaluable area of industry and many skills that'll be useful in the future." 

- Thomas Ellison