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    1. Home
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    3. Engineering, Energy & Infrastructure
    4. Nuclear Engineering Internship Cumbria Summer 2024
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    Are you studying for a Civil or Structural Engineering Degree (or General Engineering with a desire to specialise in CS&A) and looking for a paid internship for a minimum of 6 weeks over the Summer Holidays?

    The successful candidate will be working in a professional design consultancy, with a track record of developing and supporting the summer intern whilst on the 6-week placement and beyond. As the intent for the summer intern is to be working on live projects and as the work is so varied within the Whitehaven Office, the exact work will be dependent on ongoing projects at the time of the placement. The projects are likely to be associated with the design and/or assessment of work within the nuclear sector. We will also have some ‘in-house’ tasks, in which the summer intern will be able to support during any down time from client projects. Based on previous years, the Westlakes summer placement has supported summer students with their studies and provided them with some early examples of work to support future attributes aligned to the ICE or IStructE.

    Testimonials

    Westlakes Engineering have been supporting and developing University Students during their holiday breaks since 2004. In 2022 we caught up with a number of these students and asked them to reflect on their Summer Student experiences and if they believe it helped them with their career to date.

    Peter Sutton – Summer Student – July 2017 to Sept 2017 and Westlakes Engineering employee – Sept 2018 to Present

    • What was your biggest takeaway from the WEL Summer internship(s)?
      • The ability to learn more about ‘real world’ engineering, rather than just theory at university.
    • Would you advise other university students to apply and if so why?
      • Definitely. It gives the ability to see what the working environment is like, if the company is for you and at the end you could secure a job.
    • What’s your current job/role?
      • Lead Engineer at Westlakes Engineering
    • Anything else worth noting?
      • Nuclear Engineering is completely different every day so it’s a constant learning process. The summer internships are a great opportunity to see if this way of working is for you.

    Holly Farrow – summer student July 2021 – September 2021

    • What was your biggest takeaway from the WEL Summer internship(s)?
      • My biggest take away technically was being able to apply what I had learnt in my University modules and see its value in real projects.
    • Would you advise other university students to apply and if so why?
      • Absolutely, yes at every level – it gave me brilliant confidence going into my next few years on how to apply things we had learnt and also introduced me to new concepts. Westlakes was a really friendly place to start and felt welcomed and part of the team from day 1.
    • What’s your current job/role?
      • Graduate Structural Engineer (Arup, London)

    Rob Ward – Westlakes Summer Student

    • What was your biggest take away from the Westlakes Engineering Summer placement(s)?
      • The Real world experience gave me confidence in my abilities, which acted as a springboard for my engineering degree and early career.
    • Would you advise other university students to apply and if so why?
      • I would highly recommend the university students apply – you will be better placed for your studies and for employment post-graduation. Employers are looking for real world experience as well as academic performance, so it can be a differentiator when it comes to securing your first graduate job. You might even be offered a position with Westlakes Engineering!
    • What’s your current job/role?
      • Operations Manager, Major Capital Programmes for Nuclear Waste Services. I work with two of the Community Partnerships that have set up to find a willing host community for a geological disposal facility for disposal of higher activity radioactive wastes

    Josh Graves – Summer Student – July 2011 to Aug 2011

    • What was your biggest take away from the Westlakes Engineering Summer placement(s)?
      • My placements at Westlakes were my first experience to Civil Engineering in a professional environment. The variety of the work and the scale of the projects in the nuclear industry was the most surprising thing I took away.
    • Would you advise other university students to apply and if so why?
      • Definitely. Undertaking placements in parallel with my studies allowed me to take far more benefit from my degree than I would have done otherwise. Industrial placements put that theoretical side of University study in context. I felt far more confident applying for jobs with some professional experience behind me.
    • What’s your current job/role?
      • I am currently a Project Manager at Sellafield. I have undertaken a range of engineering roles prior to moving into projects and achieved chartership with the ICE in 2019.

    Anonymous – Summer Student

    • What was your biggest take away from the Westlakes Engineering Summer placement(s)?
      • The experience of how knowledge you are gaining from your degree is applied in the real world; to real world problems and design briefs. The additional benefit of this is that this also works both ways, as you can utilise the industry experience you have gained to project assignments during your degree.
    • Would you advise other university students to apply and if so why?
      • Absolutely. The support and mentoring provided by Westlakes Engineering is fantastic. Westlakes also have a very good reputation amongst clients and are involved in a wide variety of sectors and projects.
    • What’s your current job/role?
      • CS&A Engineer for a Nuclear Licensed Site. Working within Projects (designs, drawings & documentation), acting as a Civil System Engineer, undertaking Asset Inspections, creating configurations using BIM, and undertaking UAV surveys.
    • Anything additional?
      • Summer placements are a great way to gain experience and knowledge that not only helps you in your degree but also can be the difference when applying for graduate roles ince you have finished your course and beginning your career.

    Andrew Branthwaite – Summer Student 2004 to 2009 and Westlakes Engineering employee 2009 to Present

    • What was your biggest take away from the Westlakes Engineering Summer placement(s)?
      • From day 1, how much I felt like I was part of the team. All the staff were supportive and friendly. I got to work on some very interesting projects, even if the work I was doing was only a small part of it all. They were also very encouraging with anything that I may have been studying at university.
    • Would you advise other university students to apply and if so why?
      • Absolutely. The company was very small when I started my first summer placement. I was their 10th employee. It was interesting to see just how much it would grow each time I came back for another placement. I was as interested in the business side of things, as I was the engineering and being at a small engineering company like Westlakes allowed me to develop in both engineering and things to consider when developing a business.
      • From a personal perspective, as I still work at Westlakes, it would be great to work alongside others that are following the same route that I did with the summer placements
    • What’s your current job/role?
      • Technical Director at Westlakes Engineering. I’m also part of Westlakes Senior Leadership team. I have always enjoyed leading teams and supporting individuals and the team to develop. The Senior Leadership role give me more scope to be able to do this. There is still plenty for me to learn and develop myself within these roles, but I’m enjoying the journey with Westlakes in doing so.

    Mark Cooper – Westlakes Summer Student – June 2008 to Sept 2009 and then Westlakes Engineering employee – Aug 2009 to June 2016

    • What was your biggest take away from the Westlakes Engineering Summer placement(s)?
      • For me at the time it was seeing how the university work could be applied to the projects in industry and being able to make some contribution to the deliverables.
    • Would you advise other university students to apply and if so why?
      • Definitely for the reasons I mentioned to your first question and starting this process during the placement can give you a running start when moving into industry full time and potentially with the same company.
    • What’s your current job/role?
      • Structural Engineer for Tetratech.
    • Anything additional?
      • It’s good that companies go to the school events to advertise potential placements. Also the placements give experience working in teams of different backgrounds and working with other disciplines. All of which you will need/experience in your career.