Engineering student reflects on summer industry placement

Fourth year Electrical and Electronic Engineering student Andrew Stewart is planning for his future following a twelve week placement with Glasgow based electronic engineering firm Thales.

"It was a twelve week placement to get experience in the industry. It involved me essentially slotting in to the Electronics Team as a junior, so for the time I was there I was the most junior member on the team but I got to be involved with lots of the overarching projects they have going on there."

Over a twelve week period in summer 2024, Andrew worked 9am-5pm Monday - Friday on various projects as a Junior Engineer, which gave him a little taster of what life will be like working full-time once he graduates in 2026.  One of the highlights of his placement was being able to be involved in processes from beginning to end.

Andrew said: "I got to experience the full design process and see exactly what an electronic engineer would do in the industry all the way from the initial concept to the production stages where you get to see it all take shape. I got to make circuit boards which I'd designed and then built, and I got to do a lot more of the practical stuff. I was working with a lot of people and got to witness lots of cool things that we don't really get to see in class at university which was really cool."

Andrew explained that he saw the placement advertised on LinkedIn and knew about Thales previously having seen the company's representatives at various University events. After applying with a CV he was invited to interview, and a month after that "they just called me offering me the job, they gave me a start date and listed all my benefits over the phone," Andrew explained, "the whole process felt very simple."

Andrew further said that he believes one of the reasons he was offered the placement was due to his extra-curricular activities, as he is on the management team for GCU's Rocketeering club and also is a member of GCU Racing, who compete in the annual Formula Student competition.

Having joined GCU in his third year, Andrew joined GCU Racing with his friend from college who is "F1 daft," which in turn helped him put himself out there and sign up to a new society. "When we first joined the team we were still getting settled in to the University at that point so we didn't really do too much in that first year, but I still managed to jump around and help everyone.

"I had a role making a circuit board for a critical safety part of the car, which essentially shuts the engine off if the break and accelerator are pushed down together at the same time.

"It was really cool getting involved in projects like that, and being able to help out with some of the younger students has also been really good."

Andrew notes that due to the smaller size of the Formula Student team at GCU compared to other Universities, it was "easier to make an impact."

"The team is still small and doesn't have loads of money, so there's still a lot of building to do and so much stuff you can just jump about and help out with, which was really good because it gave me so much to talk about in my Thales interview.

"In my interview I spoke about way more than what I've done in my classes, because everyone's done the classes, we've all sat in the lectures but what they really care about is your attitude."

Andrew had plenty to discuss in his interview other than what he's achieved academically, with a range of projects he's helped out with for both GCU Racing and the Rocketry team.

"They want to know if you're really going to care about what you're doing, and how you've demonstrated that you will care about the job," which he explains is one of the key reasons to get involved with extra-curricular activities as a student.

"When you're in first year, third to fifth year can feel so far away, but it really isn't and it comes around pretty quickly - so whether you like it or not, if this is what you're planning on doing then your career is coming soon and it's definitely something we should all be thinking about."

Andrew also explained that putting him in good stead for his career as a graduate is one of the main reasons he applied for the placement, but he has benefitted in many other ways: "It's also a great chance to meet new people and put yourself out there. For me, I was quite shy and reserved but being able to get involved with a lot of different people, even for the social aspect, has been really good."

Now halfway through his fourth year, Andrew is already planning ahead with constructive ways to utilise his time off over the summer months, "I'd like to go back to the same place, to work with Thales this summer because I really enjoyed it. They gave me some really positive feedback at the end which is promising, but I'm still going to see what else is out there and apply to other places. This year I really just want to do more if I can."

Andrew also said his advice for his fellow students would be: "I'd definitely recommend doing something similar, my mentality is just do as much as you can. If everything goes well and you don't have some drastic career change at some point then you'll only be a student here once so you may as well make the most of it. You've got so many opportunities to get involved with different teams and get internships and make loads of friends, so just do it!"

By Derry Wyllie