Priya Patel - Summer STEM Virtual Work Placement Student - Weekly Reports

 

   After the success of last year's Virtual Research Placements we decided to run it again in 2021! 

All students have been asked to provide a weekly update on their experience - please see below to see what Priya has been up to so far! 

Week One:

 'Working with the Surrey Wildlife Trust was an amazing experience for me. This research project I carried out on the 'Barriers to Nature Engagement in Young People' was an eye-opener towards finding the solutions that can solve local problems and the lack of engagement we currently face in society. The staff members of the Surrey Wildlife Trust, continuously gave me guidance and advice to carry out all the research necessary to make this project successful. As a result, this project received a CREST Gold Award and it is thanks to SWT for giving me this opportunity and always helping  and communicating with me throughout!"

                                                                                                                                - Priya Patel

Isabel King - Summer STEM Virtual Work Placement Student - Weekly Reports

 

   After the success of last year's Virtual Research Placements we decided to run it again in 2021! 

All students have been asked to provide a weekly update on their experience - please see below to see what Isabel has been up to so far! 

Week One:

"On the 26^th of July, I began my two-week remote work placement with the Surrey Ion Beam Centre through SATRO. The aim of the project was to produce a video storyboard and poster based on the ion beam analysis techniques available at the Surrey Ion Beam Centre. The video storyboard would consist of a voice-over, images and then an explanation of how the images are to be animated. The storyboard could then be turned into a video by a professional company and used as publicity for the Surrey Ion Beam Centre. My target audience was other A-Level students studying STEM subjects.

 After the first week, I was required to do a mid-work presentation covering: why I had chosen my topic, my plan, review of the first week (was I on track?) and my next steps. At the end of the two weeks, I presented my poster and storyboard to fellow students and supervisors on the placement.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and found I improved and gained skills in lots of new areas, including summarising difficult concepts simply and in my own words, and the ability to use keywords to search for relevant information and papers. I also gained skills in using Paint (a software that I had not previously used) and using PowerPoint’s drawing tools. Doing two presentations of my work also further improved my presentation skills and the clarity of my explanations.

I had a virtual meeting each morning with my mentor which was really helpful for any questions I had and to give me guidance, especially at the start of the project.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my remote work placement and would like to thank the Surrey Ion Beam Centre, Pierre Couture (my mentor) and SATRO for giving me the opportunity!"

- Isabel King