Reliability Engineering Industrial Placement Review

My placement involved working with mechanical systems. I was tasked with creating maintenance regimes for equipment, creating technical basis of maintenance, FMEA, etc. I was also tasked with performing plant walk downs and frequent failure studies for mechanical equipment. I spent most days in an office and visited plant every now and then depending on need. I also participated in a 'sprint project' where a team of engineers has six weeks to solve an urgent problem.

I improved my soft skills such as communication by interacting with external companies and my colleagues. I have gained a lot of engineering technical knowledge as well, mainly around reliability engineering methods like failure mode and effect analysis or technical basis maintenance. I gained a complete understanding of technical drawings as during my role I worked with them almost every day. Importantly I got an understanding of how a large industrial plant functions and operates and got 'real world' engineering experience.

I was given as much responsibility as my other colleagues in my team and had the opportunity to work on the same tasks and projects as them despite me being a placement student. The tasks I was given were meaningful work which contributed to the area. This was important to me as I was taken as being on an equal level as everyone else in my team so I had the opportunity to see what it would be like to work in my team in a full role. This was the case for other placement students as well.

Everyone in my team and my line manager were really helpful in answering all my questions and giving my guidance when I needed. This applies to the placement support team and coordinators as well. Each placement student is assigned a mentor who will guide you through you placement and help you with professional registration, in my case with the IMechE. In general, everyone I interacted with during my placement was really helpful and when I first started and didn't have much knowledge of the company people were understanding and tried their best to help out and guide me.

The work culture is very friendly and in my opinion there is a sense of community in the organisation. People are generally kind and helpful towards each other and accommodate your needs. Currently you are allowed to work two days of the week from home, but this might vary depending on the role. The pace of work is rather slow and waiting for replies or pieces of work to be sent through can take a while, this applies to project delivery as well.

I really enjoyed the 12 months of working in my role. I gained a lot of experience and developed a fair bit as an engineer. The placement student and graduate community is fairly large and social events are organised regularly. Most placement students and graduates live in Whitehaven so social events are mostly organised there. There is the Lake District right next door so a lot of hikes and walks are organised, so for a person who enjoys the outdoors it is great.

Yes

I would definitely recommend to apply for a placement as Sellafield. There are a lot of interesting projects going on at the moment and it is a great place to gain engineering experience. The work culture and people are very friendly and helpful. The application process involves an interview and assessment center. You will need to get security clearance to work and you need to pass a medical check. Before the interview it might be worth it to check the Sellafield manifesto.