Materials Laboratories Apprentice Review

On a day to day basis my roll, consists of working through projects provided by my manager. this can vary depending on the placement. but is primarily either research and development or manufacturing based. This includes a variety of skills, from microscopic analysis, data processing and analysis, business improvement activities and research activities.

I have learnt a range of new skills throughout the different placements. form business improvement activities and the different methods that can be used such as LEAN manufacturing. technical skills such as various microscopic analysis techniques such as fractography or corrosion analysis. I have also developed my management and communication skills throughout each placement on the apprenticeship.

I enjoy the vast majority of the programme from a day to day perspective. the placements are usually engaging and keep me busy the majority of the time. providing a wide variety of learning opportunities on each placement. university also ads a nice change of pace form the workplace allowing for different opportunities to learn in an academic environment. However the management of the apprenticeship has been poorer than i expected primarily due to poor communication and restructuring of courses, however there are improvements being made to both of these issues currently.

The structure of the apprenticeship holds well in principle and the placements provide good insight into the business. the management and organisation of each placement is good on the whole however the needs of the apprentice are not currently considdered when being placed depending on the NVQ or skills that they need to meet and a more tailored approach could provide some benefit. the management of the apprenticeship has been shaky throughout the scheme so far with two changes in lead providers and a lack of assessors for at past year. however currently many of the organisational issues are being resolved and should have less of an effect in the future.

There is a good level of support provided by the managers and supervisors while on placement on the whole. however the contact form the apprentice academy is poorer in comparison on the day to day basis. I have also found that the ADLs solutions to solving problems tends to be ofloading work onto apprentices rather than taking the time out to solve it themselves. or when this is not the case apprentices are not consulted to understand what would be needed for the solution to be as effective as possible.

During my time in the apprenticeship i have been working under 3 different lead providers. Rolls-Royce, Derby Collage, and the University of Derby. The support from Rolls-Royce was good during the first year, however during and after the transfer to derby collage they were unable to provide assessors to apprentices to compleat their NVQ and the level of communication on issues was little to non irrespective of the efforst made by Rolls-Royce. however derby university seem to be providing a good service with regars to the support given, however this is only a recent transfer (1 month) so is difficult to say that the support is consistent.

I feel that the degree provided has been useful at times for working in the business, however often the information provided is often repetitive with regards to the modules that have been selected. I would like to see some more materials based modules in the future to better tailor the degree to the work being performed in the workplace.

there are a variety of extra curricular activities that acre available in the workplace. one of the most prevalent being the apprentice and graduate association. these organise social events ranging from nights out to ski trips and many things in-between. there are also other events that occur on each sites such as baking competitions and networking events such as lunch and learns.

Yes

Rolls-Royce provides a good variety of placements for those interested in materials engineering and manufacturing allowing for excellent learning opportunities allowing an apprentice to get a "foot in the door" by learning how the business operates, their processes and plenty of networking opportunities across the business. Although the organisation and communication is poor at times.

Be Keen. Ensure to get help from others to get advice on the interview process and writing your CV. do a practice run though of presentation / mock interview. show genuine interest in engineering. Ask lots of questions. be aware that you may have to move to attend the role in the apprenticeship.