Manchester work placement inspires future engineer
An A-level student from Altrincham Grammar School for Girls felt inspired after completing work experience in our Manchester office. Isabel, year 12, spent a week learning about engineering design – she is hoping to study either mechanical or aeronautical engineering at university.
The team set her the task of determining possible performance and model scale for a hypothetical towing carriage with given constraints, and then choosing an appropriate servo motor, gearbox ratio and servo drive to drive it. They then guided her through the work of designing a bracket for mounting those components and producing an outline of a draft proposal document for sending to a hypothetical client.
"During my work experience week at HR Wallingford, I gained valuable insight into the roles required within a company as well as practical experience using CAD for the first time in modelling/designing a bracket for a motor and gearbox,” said Isabel. “Overall, it was an inspiring and engaging experience!"
Senior Engineer Matthew Cameron commented: “We set Isabel a representative task that would allow a mixture of independent and collaborative work, with a bias towards mathematical analysis and making engineering decisions. We were pleased with her aptitude and ability to progress work with a high level of understanding with minimal supervision. We wish her well, and hope to hear that she has decided to become an engineer in a few years’ time.”
