I initially thought it would be a great opportunity when I applied for University, and then as I started my 3rd year I really looked into what I could get out of a placement and decided to go for it! I thought that getting exposure to industry before I graduated would be really helpful in helping me decide what I wanted to do post-grad, as well as help me from an employment perspective. 

I thoroughly enjoyed it! Don't get me wrong, the first 3 months were hard, mostly because I had to learn how to deal with feeling really out of my depth, but I was really lucky that everyone at Abbott was really nice & always happy to help me out. Once I found my feet, I really enjoyed getting stuck in and doing work that was actually important, and constantly learning new skills on the go was slightly scary but so worth it in the end.

I was a project engineer, so my team was one of 3 within the Operations Engineering Department. My team's primary responsibility was the validation of equipment and processes, meaning that we had to test every procedure & machine to make sure it was operating exactly as we needed it to, in order for optimal product to be manufactured. This also meant we were involved from day 1, having design meetings with external contractors who make the equipment which was very interesting! We were a busy team and there was always something going on to get involved with. 

As well as my role in the projects team, I was encouraged to seek out any other work that interested me, so I ended up getting heavily involved in machine vision, which I loved! Machine vision in a nutshell is the set-up of cameras & software at every stage of manufacturing that inspects & subsequently passes or fails product based on if any defects are found. It was completely new to me but I found it really interesting. 

In my work with machine vision, I helped run a months-long trial, making important changes to vision programs and adjusting things as needed along the way. There were a lot of unknowns going in, and while it felt a bit overwhelming with so much responsibility and different teams counting on it, everything turned out well in the end. I'm really proud of the work I did on my own and it gave me a lot of confidence in my ability to navigate stressful situations & get the job done! 

There were many! The biggest challenge was when I was a project manager for a team of people who had been at the company longer than I'd been alive! It was tough to lead when I knew everyone likely had more experience than me, and finding the right balance between asking for help and trusting my own judgment wasn't easy. I sometimes felt awkward giving directions, but I realized the project had to get done, and the only way was for me to come up with a plan and get everyone on board. 

Do it! You learn so much, not just about engineering in industry but also about being a young professional. 

My advice for applying is to not undersell yourself! Let the company decide if you're not the right fit for a placement, don't do it yourself.

My advice when on placement is don't panic about not knowing anything, you will learn! And get involved with everything your placement has to offer, like sports teams or societies, they're a great way of getting to know people you might not otherwise meet.

My placement gave me so much insight into what roles actually exist in industry, as well as how important it is to seek out work that interests you. Showing initiative in your development is so important!

My plans for after graduation are to apply for graduate schemes centred around early stage design of medical devices! I'd like to see more of the R&D side now I've had exposure to the Operations side, and use all my experience & skills gained from placement to get there.