I am currently in my second year at uni, studyin Aerospace Engineering (MEng) anyone got any ideas on any top companies that are offering placement years next yr. As this would be helpful 2 my course!
Thanks Wayne
McAero
2nd Oct 2006, 18:19
hiyer,
Just the usual ones I'd imagine - Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, Westland, Smiths Aerospace perhaps, Thales, Messier-Dowty, GE etc etc.
Look outside the bubble too - F1? :cool:
Paul Wilson
4th Oct 2006, 20:17
Nothing like leg work to get a placement, if you are on an accredited course (not all are) you should be eligiable to join the Royal Aeronautical Society, may give a few contacts, go to some of lectures and put yourself about. Knock on doors, phone people, ask for a chat with an engineer at a company you like the sound of, basically do things that will differentiate you from the crowd. Start doing these things now, not when you are desperate come May/June time. There can be big advantages in going for a smaller company, it would be more likely that you will get a project to yourself, you will stand out more.
e.g. A friend at University, got a placement at Aston Martin (pre Ford days) and designed the sensor placement and associated gubbins for the air bags on the Vantage - mind you, should have heard him swear when he went back at Easter and they'd put the same package in another model - doesn't work like that the sensors have to very carefully placed. There is no way he would have got a similar level of responsibility at Ford or GM.
Industries to consider - that might not be obvioius.
Wind Turbine Manufacturers - some intersting stuff going on with making household units, and cutting down the vibrations and forces so that it doesn't take your gable end off.
As McAero said F1, but maybe broaden it to motorsport - World Rally Cars, LeMans Cars - suspect there is a possibility of getting a job on one of the "gentleman driver" teams, which in timescale would be ideal, june 2007 go down to Le Mans to see what happens with the team, work for 9-12 months sorting the car, "your" race in June 2008, debrief and 2 months off before starting back in September, The F1 season does not tie in very nicely with the academic one.
Not sure how much use it would be, but architects are using wind tunnels these days when they design buildings, so they can understand better the forces acting on them and the effects the buildings they put up will have on others around them and on the pedestrians below. (and I'm sure you too have seen the Tacoma Narrows bridge film - I think it is compulsary for every Enineering student-in the world)
My Advice would be to aim high, after all someone has to get the placement at McLaren, Airbus, and BAe, but do not ignore the "lower" targets, because EVERYONE will be applying to the big boys.
Genghis the Engineer
10th Oct 2006, 17:25
Not sure about "aiming high", I'd recommend going for the smaller companies first. Firstly they aren't buried under several million badly written CVs from students and recent graduates, secondly the work is likely to be much more varied.
At somewhere like Airbus you are likely to see a very small part of the overall engineering process, whilst at (say) Britten-Norman you'd probably in a summer or a year placement see everything from design through production to flight test, marketing, etc...
G