YorRobots Student Internship Review

It was good fun despite being forced to be online. Lots of opportunities to meet people still through virtual meetings and the monthly meetings with anyone in the field that wants to attend and discuss their project. It has been hard work working on my own remotely however but my supervisor was very good at replying to emails and was happy to discuss ideas etc as they happened. Also, working remotely has given me more flexibility in terms of work time (family commitments etc). I would rather have had the opportunity to work in person but it has been good. The worst aspect has been having the resources to complete the internship to a good level. I have had to obtain an old Linux computer and have spent a lot of time installing and trying to learn software that would have otherwise been an easy transition into using. Furthermore, I have kit at home like a 3d printer, which I have used extensively.

I feel that my work has contributed to the project in a significant way, tackling a problem that would have to be dealt with before at some point anyway. My supervisor has always been keen to discuss my ideas on any aspect of the project and was offered to have me continue after the internship has ended if I was able, and wanted to carry on being part of the project (unpaid). I felt like the ideas weren't ridiculous and that I was able to provide a different perspective to designs and such in some areas. Also, when I was wrong/asked stupid questions (such as when trying to learn software myself) I was given help without feeling bad.

My supervisor was very good at giving guidance and support in the internship. Any time that needed help or wanted to discuss an idea I was able to be in email contact and once a week in a virtual meeting; during which I was able to discuss how the project was moving and other ideas. I feel that it would have been better in person, but it was very good anyway. My other supervisor wasn't much help, but my first supervisor was. Furthermore I had access to other students working on the project at various levels on Skype to discuss at any point.

The project was able to help me learn different aspects of iterative design furthermore, I have a much more in depth knowledge of project working in the academic world. Until this point, I had only worked in student projects which were compulsory (or competitions where it was enforced). Now I am aware of how it works, what it is like to work with other dedicated people and I know a lot more about robotics and how space exploration works. My research has been very interesting up until this point.

The internship itself was quite unstructured as it was my responsibility to apply, pick an area, find an academic who would be interested in supervising my project and then to complete it under their wing. That being said, I was able to email the computer science department organisers if i needed help with the setup aspect. Furthermore, my supervisor and I created a structure with Monday 11am meetings every week and outcomes decided between us so that we were able to work forwards.

There was no atmosphere to comment on as I was working at home. In meetings and group calls it was friendly and good fun. We were able to ask questions, learn from each other and make suggestions. With my supervisor, my regular contact, we had friendly meetings and were able to discuss anything else that came to mind in regards to the project or not. My desk at home is in my bedroom and near my family, so not ideal. If I had my own home it wold be a more relaxed atmosphere. That being said, being able to work on things around my family has been hugely beneficial and in my opinion has boosted my productivity (working weekends if other responsibilities arise on Tuesday and Wednesday for example).

No training was given or investments made to my knowledge. I was under the wing of my supervisor who was keen to help and provided insight where possible, other than that learning and installing software (etc) was all learned from online. A piece of software used by the project was particularly bad and due to updates caused issues, but this was the case for my supervisor as well, so we worked through things by learning and emailing solutions.

Somewhat. The working from home made things unusual, but other than that it was very similar to my other work in an Electronics company where I was given projects to work on in a lab. I feel that it was beneficial however and I understand now that if it is a project that interests me (or someone) that they are much more likely to spend more time on it and be happy to work on things as extra if needed (evident through my supervisors support given).

This isn't particularly applicable as it is the university. All I can say is that I noticed a hierarchy. Those working on a project all seem to be on the same level, despite the educational differences and who is overseeing the project. From the project level though, there are those who finance the project and those who are in charge of the finances who are really in charge. That being said, everyone is nice and the focus seems to be on development rather than putting time in (looking like their working).

Not particularly insightful for myself, but very enjoyable. It just reinforced the fact that I wanted to work in space technology - more so exploration and highlighted in the project I have been doing. Being able to talk to academics who are familiar with this world was very interesting and I'm really happy that I was able to. However, it hasn't helped in deciding anything further as I could just as easily work on projects like this at a university (if I am smart enough) as go and work in a company developing it for commercial use.

I was paid for my hours working, meaning I didn't have to get an additional job while working on the project. This meant I was able to put in substantially more time. I potentially could have made more money working elsewhere but it was enjoyable. i wasn't reimbursed for materials used in the project and components purchased.

Yes, I attended meetings at least once a week. I was able to talk to experts in the field, such as my supervisor, as well as other students and academics working on the project. There is also a monthly larger meeting that has everyone working on robotics projects in the university where they can discuss ideas, show projects and is a good opportunity to meet people. They are conducted on skype at the moment but I'm unsure if this is the case usually or not.

There is the monthly robotics meeting where people working on projects that want to share can discuss together. However, other than this really, there has been no social opportunities. This is because we are working on the project at home.

No, as far as in know there are none for this particular internship? I'm sure that there would be activities or meetups that would have happened usually but not while everyone is working at home.

I would, it is a really good internship and I'm really glad that I applied. The fact that it was down to myself to choose what i was interested in and what I wanted to do research into means that it can be tailored to the individual. This in turn means that whoever gets the internship is able to spend their time interested and engaged completely. It also allows them to meet people relevant to their interests and follow them further.