Engineering Undegraduate Apprentice Review

Throughout the apprenticeship I will find myself in many different roles. The 3 roles I have currently experienced are stress, Fatigue & Damage Tolerance and Design Engineer. My role and the work given to me would be the same as that of a full time employee. In the stress and F&DT role I would be given analysis to complete on specific parts within the wing structure and analyse the stress experienced by this part and also its fatigue life. In my design placement I was scheming up new models to increase the optimisation of the systems within the wing.

I have learnt a great deal through the university side of the apprenticeship, by completing a wide range of modules, which are directly applicable to the work being completed on site. The placement work I am given allows me to apply this knowledge as well as learning to use industry software that university students are not exposed too. Its also given me the opportunity to work in a professional workplace, how to conduct myself, communicate and work on personal development.

The only downside I have would be with the organisation of some of the university module coursework, it was organised in a way that didn't take into account the commitments of part time industry students such as myself, adding to extra stress when trying to complete the work. Apart from that I enjoy the programme, it offers a variety of placements in order to make sure that we are continuously developing in new fields, in all placements I have been welcomed warmly and never seen as any less than any member of the team purely because I am an apprentice.

Overall the apprenticeship is well organised, however there has been a few cases where this has not been the case. This included the first stage of the apprenticeship at the city of Bristol college, where there was not even any lectures taught for our materials modules in year 1 and year 2, aswell as having little contact with the business in the first 6 months. The second case was mentioned in question 3 where our commitments were not considered when our 3rd year modules were set. However in all these cases steps were taken to improve the situations once they had been raised with our early careers managers.

Throughout the apprenticeship I have 3 'Managers' at all times, these are my early careers manager, my target area owner and my placement manager. Over the course of the apprenticeship these 3 figures have been extremely approachable and supportive I have with any questions/problems I have whether that be about work at uni, onsite or to do with personal development.

The University of the West of England gives us ample support in providing the relevant lectures, tutorial sessions and revision materials online in order to excel in our modules, all lecturers are also easily contactable through email and make a conscious effort to make sure that are questions are answered with sufficient detail.

The modules that we learn at uwe are directly applicable to work that I have completed on site, without this prior knowledge of the field before entering the placement I would struggle to complete the work to the expected standard or if I was able to complete the work I would not understand the theory behind it.

Teams that I work within often have team events where the team will socialize away from work. Early careers often also organise social events away from work for apprentices, interns and graduates to network. Airbus also runs a 5-a-side league in the evenings which I take part in and has some fitness classes at lunch times that are run by colleagues for people to attend.

Yes

The apprenticeship is a way to get your degree with having no student debt and getting paid along the way. it also gives you 4 years of industry experience whereas uni students are not exposed to the industries tools and methods. I have also found that people I work with are always happy to help me understand when I am stuck with my uni work, a source of knowledge I wouldn't be able to speak to if I was solely at uni.

make sure to achieve the expected results in your A-level Maths and Physics, these subject will be the foundations of knowledge needed in order to complete the degree. If possible involve yourself in extra-curricular engineering activities in order to expand your engineering knowledge and skills, whether that be enrolling in engineering specific courses in sixth form/college or completing some sort of engineering in your own time.