Jamie Stewart - Summer STEM Work Placement - 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 Jamie is getting on with his STEM placement!

Week One

"After spending Monday on induction activities, we started properly on Tuesday. In the first four days of research, we've been introduced to a vast number of computer programs and various machines. We've also used computer programs to run calculations and spent some time in the cleanroom, being covered from head to toe. 

I've learnt how important it is to be flexible with your plans as it seems as though they constantly have to adapt as a machine is not available. I've also learnt an awful lot of new acronyms, and the importance of keeping clear, detailed notes." 

Week Two 

"The aim of my research project, put as simply as possible, is to investigate ways to create a repeated 'fin' shape pattern on a silicon wafer. This is useful for my supervisor who works with computer models for these patterns and would like to be able to produce small samples of fins for testing.

The reason why this fin shape is important is because it is used in industry to create a component called a FinFET which is essentially a 3D transistor. The fin shape has a higher surface area than a traditional planar 2D transistor and so a FinFET can be made smaller than a 2D transistor whilst still doing the same job. This enables more transistors to be fitted onto a single chip, increasing the speed of the computer."

Week Three 

"We've had some minor delays due to a software issue on a machine but for the most part we have been making good progress this week. We haven't actually been creating anything new but when working with nanostructures, a large proportion of time is spent just trying to figure out what you have created.

We spent a lot of time huddled around a whiteboard trying to understand some of the results that we've obtained but we think we have a reasonable idea of what is happening and will soon be running a computer model which should hopefully confirm our hypothesis. Going into the final week of research, we're aiming to combine everything we've learnt so far into a final attempt to make fins to a specific dimension."

Week Four 

"This week was the last week where we properly focused on research. We stayed for a fifth week which we were able to use to finish the last part of our results section however we saved that primarily for writing the report. Our last set of experiments was essentially the same as the first set of experiments, but with one key change to the process which had been causing problems for us. It took us 3 weeks to complete the first set of experiments but just 1 week to complete the second set because we were far more efficient when we knew what we were doing."

- Jamie Stewart 

Bevan Pun - Summer STEM Work Placement - 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 Bevan is getting on with his STEM placement! 

Week One 

"30th July 2018 was the first day of my research placement at WSP and I was pretty nervous. It was quite dull weather but it didn't ruin my excitement. When I first entered, I was quite taken back at the size of the office and the level of concentration that the employees had. I was first introduced to my line manager and was given a tour of the office. Later, I got a taste of what the environmental engineers do by writing a review. It was a good but tiring day.

The first week of my research placement has ended. It was a nice but exhausting week. Throughout the week, my main objective was to get as much information about my topic as possible before I start structuring my work. I learnt new concepts about landfills, such as the ground concept model and how development of former landfills was challenging with all the risks a landfill brings with it. This kind of information was new to me as I hadn't delved into the world of environmental engineering, which I found interesting and got me thinking about other topics related with engineering." 

Week Two 

"My second week of the placement was very exciting. I got put into a work experience week at WSP to help me understand the other departments at WSP and help me to broaden my research in landfills. 

This was a very fun week as I got to try different departments such as air quality, water, structures, geo environmental, planning and development and so much more. This was to make sure I get a taste of what each department does in their specialist fields including making a detailed plan of a swimming pool in a leisure centre in structure and doing a short desk study at geo environmental of our schools. This showed me that there was a lot of theoretical work to engineering as much as practical work. 

This week helped me immensely in terms of what to research on my topic of landfill development." 

Week Three

"It is the end of my third week here at WSP for my research placement. I am now desk-based to carry out further research on whether it is viable for a residential development on former landfill sites. My research options were broaden last week and I spent this week researching about risks from former landfill sites, including risks of landfill gas and leachate on surrounding properties, and the remedation needed for these risks. This new knowledge was quite interesting as it involved parts of geo-technical engineering, in terms of settlement of the soil caused by decomposition of the waste and the foundations that are suitable for building on former landfill sites. This was a more relaxed scene than last week as I could focus more on the topics I wanted to research with no distractions, which in my opinion was quite enjoyable." 

Week Four 

"The last week of my placement was spent doing the last few bits of my project and organising my research. My end goal for this week was to complete a report that included my research about development on former landfills and my own opinions on whether it is feasible to do such a development.

The last few weeks have been hectic with the amount of research and understanding that was needed for my project. So it was nice to have a look back and think about the new knowledge that I have gained in the four weeks of my placement. Overall, I found this placement very interesting and enjoyable as it showed me new aspects of engineering - geo-technical, planning development, geo-environmental, structures and much more." 

- Bevan Pun

Thoran Landers - Summer STEM Work Placement - 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 Thoran is getting on with his STEM placement! 

Week One 

"My first week at the University of Surrey has been an intriguing and eventful one. The first day was structured around introducing the various ideas that I would be using throughout my time and also giving me the chance to get to know everyone on the team. One week in, and I have already started to become familiar with simulation software that used to be completely alien to me, not to mention a better understanding of how transistors work and what they are used for. I look forward to continuing with my project as I know this is only a taste of what is to come!" 

- Thoran Landers

James Tait - 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 James is getting on with his STEM placement! 

Week One

"My first week at the Advanced Technology Institute at Surrey University consisted of meeting everyone I'd be working with and being given a tour of the facilities. I was also looking for and reading relevant scientific papers that would help me with my project. Although they were different to understand, my supervisor was on hand to help explain difficult concepts and I was able to bounce ideas off of him. 

We also outlined the project and attempted to replicate some of the experiments found in suitable scientific journals." 

Week Two


"We started off week two by refining experiments from week one. We had successfully coiled fishing line and we'd been able to induce a contraction to lift weights. I was able to calculate the best weights to use when coiling which we then tested by preparing samples and observing them under an optical microscope. We're hoping to test the mechanical properties next week as this helps greatly with my project; creating an 'artificial muscle' from electrspun nylon. 

I was also introduced to the electrospinning rig, a process which creates very thin fibres (nanometre scale)."

Week Three  

"I started off the week by visiting the mechanical testing facility and familiarising myself with the machinery. I tested two samples of fishing line coiled under two weights and was able to calculate the spring constant. I had read about thermally annealing (175c) the fishing line after coiling it, though until this week I had little understanding as to why this was necessary. I believed there was a change in crystalline structure which may be altered depending on the method of cooling. I prepared six samples, two quenched after annealing for one hour, two cooled at room temperature after one hour and two for comparison. I then tested their properties and was also able to measure the amount of contraction when applying heat." 

Week Four 

"The last week at my placement was focused on preparing a poster to present to the supervisors at the institute. As such, I spent most of my time gathering the necessary data and creating all the graphs required. I was also able to mechanically test some electrospun nylon and record its interesting properties. For the last few days I was attempting to electrothermally actuate the coiled fishing line though this proved difficult as the wire was too rigid to manipulate. 

On the final day, I had a get-together where we drank coffee and said our goodbyes. This whole experience has shown me how much I can push myself and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who gets the opportunity." 

- James Tait 

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