Vacation student Review

I really enjoyed my time at Arup. I was working in Bristol with the mechanical team for Buildings. Although I arrived with a passion for buildings more than an actual knowledge for it I found it extremely interesting and easy to relate to. The work include various disciplines and aspects amongst which fitting the required piping and ventilation systems in a building project with the software Revit, calculating the size of radiators and pipes required for the systems, marking up floor plans and the part I found the most interesting, using IES simulation to model the internal and solar gains of the building and assess the building performance throughout the year.

The team was extremely helpful and supportive. The whole office is an open floor plan meaning that even the most senior staff members share the office with the youngest. I was given a desk next to an Associate Director. Everyone is very friendly and following Arup ethos you continuously see people leaving their desk and go to someone else's to ask about a project and consult them about what's the best way of proceeding. Everytime I asked for help I found people willing to help me with a positive attitude and no one ever hesistate to spend some extra time sharing with me some background information that I might needed.

I was given plenty of support throughout my internship and in some instances I was left with no task to complete. This occured do to the fact that with Arup you are working on real projects and sometimes it may occur that no one around the office has a job that can be done by an intern considering his low level of expertise. In these cases I used to my time to conduct some independent research using the Arup intranet that turned out to be very beneficial for the jobs that I excecuted later on during the internship.

The work at Arup was never stressful although it was very stimulating. You would sometimes work on different projects at the same time meaning you could be dedicate half of your day on a task and half on another which made the day go very quickly and you wouldn't get bored.

I felt that I was given the appropriate responsibility for an intern. I was guided sufficiently to know how to conduct a task correctly and then all my work was reviewed by the person that assigned me the task. Working on real projects increased the feeling of responsibility and made it more exciting like when fitting the pipe conduits on Revit for the renovation of a building that I'd walk by every day. Furthermore, I was given the chance to give a presentation, together with a colleague at the MEP huddle which was an extremely enjoyable and important experience during my internship.

I became very passionate about building services after this internship, to the extent that I am cinsidering as a carrerr path. I am sure that the skills learnt like using the Revit and IES software will turn out to be very beneficial in the future. Furthermore the experience in the Arup office was very valuable to learn more about the working life and it sets the standards for a enjoyable and stimulating working environment.

The atmosphere was very relaxed and everyone seemed enjoying what they were doing. I never heard anyone dreading about the too much stress or work. It was very common seeing people interacting and also chatting over a cup of tea for a little break. The open plan office promotes everyone knowing and collaborating with each other.

It was well organized in the sense I had the chance to be involved with various projects and obtain skills in different areas of expertise. Working in real projects however meant that sometimes that weren't tasks available that I'd qualify to undertake which resulted in some time invested in individual research on the internet and Arup intranet.

Yes, although I never got involved because I would dedicate my time to my boyfriend after work, I frequently heard about get together and a number of colleagues were used to go to the pub together on Fridays. There didn't seem to be a distinction in age/ position amongst the colleagues and they all seemed very eager to go out together.

Bristol is famous for its nightlife there are places suited for every taste. Motion in particular is in the top 15 of nightclubs worldwide. On top of the nightlife Bristol has a very vibrant and full social life. Every weekend you find stall with food or things to buy. During my stay that was from mid July until the end of August I went to the Harbour lights festival, a motion day festival and the hot air baloon festival, the best in the whole of Europe.