Vacation Student - Structures team Review

The work I did at the placement was very engaging and real. I had a variety of engineering tasks every day for very important infrastructure projects in Manchester; furthermore, I was exposed to a wide range of industry techniques and software. There were also lots of fun events and sporting activities that I could involve myself in weekly.

My structures team were very welcoming and discussed their current work and time at the company in detail. When I enquired about contributing to the new engineering building at the University in which I study at, my colleagues were more than keen to involve me with real work. Graduate engineers also gave me lots of tips for my postgraduate studies.

When asking for guidance on a task, all members of my team took their time to help me and explain throurougly how to progress with my work. HR were also very helpful with supporting my short term stay at the office. There were periods of time were guidance could have been more structured and consistent. mo

For the majority of my placement I had a very good balance of work. A purely engineering task would give me a substantial amount of work for the day. For some periods I was extremely busy and was balancing multiple projects at once; this was difficult as I would have to prioritise work for different line managers. At some periods I had very little work to do and had to find tasks by myself.

The tasks that I were given were for real and very important projects in Manchester. The documents that I created were shown to clients and contractors and brought up in meetings. Furthermore, the calculations that I did were significant and led to design choices which were finalised on Revit workshare files.

I believe I have developed industry level skills and know-how in structural engineering design. Understanding how to best navigate through Eurocodes online and in books was very useful. Also, being exposed to how to best use software such as GSA, Tekla and Revit will definitely help with my design projects in the future.

Everybody in the office was extremely friendly from the moment I started. Each discipline is very collaborative and work in cohesion. I was invited to observe what other departments do and felt as though I could have lunch with anybody. I never felt under pressure from managers or directors when in the office.

I was given lots of interesting tasks and had a real input on projects. However, at times my workload felt somewhat unorganized. I was given tasks day-by-day in response to what spare work was needed. I understand that this represents the fast paced nature of a consultancy, however, some pre-designed tasks for professional development would be very useful.

Arup gave me alot of one-to-one learning with engineering tasks and software. They also provided a wide variety of training courses with Arup University. I would have appreciated some more personal development to expose me to professional education that a university cannot teach me; perhaps training and lessons with some chartered engineers or career advice.

Ultimately, I was thoroughly impressed by Arup's company culture and the innovative projects that they are involved in. I would cherish the opportunity to work for them in the future and hope to be successful in my application for their grad scheme after studying for my masters degree in Manchester.

The company was very social. Over the 6 week placement I attended a summer BBQ party, a boat party, team drinks, and played 5-a-side football every Monday. At lunch there were regular discussions and presentations on various topics. We also viewed documentaries (such as Attenborough: Climate Change) and discussed our views on the topic.

The office is in the city centre and so drinks are fairly expensive. Alot of the time the company coveted the costs, however, there were many instances in which I (as a vacation student) did not have the same budget as a senior staff member. The cost of living is significantly cheaper than London however.

Manchester nightlife is great and very varied. It has a mix of everything so you are bound to find something you enjoy. There are lots of bars, clubs, pubs, restaurants and other activities to do. It is all fairly cheap and the people are very friendly. The office is located right in the centre of Manchester so it is easily accessible to any venue.

Arup are involved in many charities and outreach societies. Furthermore the Arup University allows you to study or involve yourself in a wide range of activities and topics. It is, however, your motivation that will allow you to join these activities as they are not constantly advertised or presented to you.