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 Ishaan is getting on with their STEM placement!
Week One
"In the first week of my SATRO research placement at WSP, I was able to find lots of information and online resources pertaining to the aim of my project. These include news articles, parliamentary records, academic publications, and reports from WSP. I have also learned about various aspects of engineering consultancy and professional life, such as Health and Safety, GDPR regulations, and being future ready.
Furthermore, I attended a technical meeting with the highways team where we watched an informational training video on highway geometry for horizontal curves on motorways. Following the video, the team discussed topics including the design life of roads considering the development and production of autonomous vehicles in the near future. Next week, I will continue with research, but my main focus will shift to developing thorough solutions. Hence, I have a call scheduled with an engineer who has worked on traffic modelling in the area I am focusing on as he would be able to provide me with insights that could help me develop original solutions to the issue at hand."
Week Two
"My second week at WSP began with a meeting with the technical director of transport modelling, who kindly provided me with several insights for my project. I was able to ask him questions regarding both the process of theoretical traffic modelling, as well as how it was applied in real life in the Port of Dover and M20 motorway. Furthermore, he advised me on how firms and engineering consultants must consider economics, deadlines, and feasibility of solutions when it comes to developing reports for clients.
For the rest of the week, I continued working on my report and the specifics of my proposed schemes. In order to stay organised and on schedule, I have started using a timetable for daily tasks, as well as a Gantt chart for an overall view of my progress on the project."
Week Three
"In my third and final week, I was mainly focused on thoroughly developing potential solutions for my research project. This involved conducting more specific research, report writing, and technical development. Furthermore, for advise and checking the feasibility of my proposed schemes, I asked members of the highways engineering department for their help and guidance. Also, I have found that the organisational tools that I have been using (Gantt charts and timetables) are quite effective measures for being productive and staying on task.
In addition to my research, I also learned a lot about university and career paths, as well as how engineers in various disciplines can acquire a chartered status to receive recognition of their competence and experience.
Overall, my work experience at WSP was quite insightful for me as I was able to learn about the professional life of engineering consultants. Moreover, I got to work on an interesting and meaningful research project which showed me how valuable STEM is to society and the world."
- Ishaan Ghatak
No comments:
Post a Comment