Lab Operations Engineer Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed working for Cummins throughout my placement and have really increased my technical knowledge on engineering processes, test scheduling, design work, coordinating and leadership. I felt very valued whilst on my placement and have been responsible for high priority and urgent work which has really pushed my capabilities but also made me a more rounded student.

I felt very valued by my colleagues as they didn't treat me like a placement student but a fellow employee. I was given real life issues and had to work to deadlines for last minute work and plan accordingly. when I finish my placement I will miss working for the company but believe I will miss working with my team and solving issues together.

This varies depending on how much support you need. If you are proactive and ask questions and show interest you supervisor/manager will help in any way they can whether they point you in the direction of someone more knowledgeable in the area or help you themselves. I think they create a good balance of being there when needed but also letting you learn on your own.

In my department I was always very busy because most of our work is reactive work, I enjoyed being in a stressful environment and found myself thriving under the pressure. When you apply for a role you're provided with information on the different departments so you can see what interests you and get an idea on how busy you might be.

I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement. When my supervisor was in It was my job to coordinate all test cells, update customers and trouble shoot issues. I also did smaller tasks such a design test cell hardware, project management and booking in work that needs doing in cells.

Over the whole placement year all students received a lot of training which varied from technical skills, to engineering processes to personal development and how you fit within your team. I found all of the training very useful and believe can be applied to university, work and future life skills.

Due to my department being very busy and mainly focusing on reactive work and planning for future work the office is busy most of the time which I really enjoyed. We would have scheduling meetings to customer visits to training, so there was never a dull moment. I think we had a very fun and loud atmosphere when needed but this can change depending on what is happening in the test cells.

I think this varies per department, a lot of students are given 5 main projects which they will work on throughout their year. For me I had about but then did a lot of other work on a daily basis, I think this can vary depending on your skill set. As I study Mechanical engineering I learnt how to model on design software so my team utilised this so used me for test cell hardware design and quick design solutions - its tailored to your strengths.

I think these are very high because as a placement student you learnt the software that Cummins use and the protocols they follow, by employing a graduate who hasn't had this experience they would have to start from scratch. By doing your placement you learn and make contacts and you become indispensable to the company.

When we were confirmed starting our placement we were all added to a placement Facebook group which was used to find people to live with. During the placement we set up night outs and events which we could do at the weekends, usually going to Leamington Spa, Northampton and Coventry.

The cost of renting a house was about £400 a month excluding gas/water and that was sharing with another placement student in a semi detached house. I think its very affordable living in Daventry but the social aspect isn't to good, I would suggest trying Rugby or Leamington spa which are only a 25 minute drive away.