Nathan Vosper MEng Aeronautics & Astronautics / Aerodynamics
Industrial Placement Student, Babcock International Group
I chose Southampton for several reasons: their engineering facilities are second to none, the lecturers that teach you are, more often than not, at the top of their fields of research, and the university’s reputation and links to engineering industry is exceptional.
Why did you choose to study this course?
I have always been fascinated with aeroplanes, spacecraft and aerodynamics. At school, I competed in a competition called F1 in Schools at World Championship level which is a competition that introduced me to engineering design, and a brief overview of race car aerodynamics. With that in mind, aerodynamics was what interested me the most about engineering, alongside aerospace propulsion, and flight mechanics so it just seemed right for me to study a course in Aerospace Engineering.
Why did you choose to come to the University of Southampton?
I realised that I wanted to go to Southampton when I was in year 11. I was fortunate enough to get a prestigious Arkwright Scholarship, and I had my interview at the University of Southampton. I chose Southampton for several reasons: their engineering facilities are second to none, the lecturers that teach you are, more often than not, at the top of their fields of research, and the university’s reputation and links to engineering industry is exceptional. The course from Southampton was recommended to me as one of the best in the country, so academically it seemed like the best place for me to apply to, and luckily I got in.
Alongside the academic part of University, and considering student life as a whole, Southampton is a university that allows students to really get a complete university experience too. The nightlife is good, the Students' Union is one of the best in the country and the cost of living is relatively cheap. These were all factors in choosing the University of Southampton.
What has been the highlight of your course so far?
I have particularly enjoyed all of the group projects that we get involved with for our course. In our first, second and third year, we designed a race car rear wing, a UAV (Unmanned Air Vehicle) wing, and a microlight respectively. These have been particularly interesting because it allows us to apply our theoretical knowledge in a practical application, similar to what you would do in industry. In our second year, we also had a week long flying laboratory course where a pilot carried out several different manoeuvres in a small aircraft. During the week, we had the opportunity to experience a plane in ‘stall’ which was really cool. Probably my favourite highlight so far has been the participation in the University’s Formula Student team, becoming a vital team member in my third year. Formula Student is a competition that allows students to design and build a single-seater race car and I had some great experiences being involved with this.
How did the University help you to secure your placement, or help to prepare you for your placement?
There were many ways that the University helped in preparing me for applying for industrial placements. First, the careers fairs on campus were a great start for finding internship schemes. There were many companies at the careers fair that I had never even considered applying for, but by talking to their recent graduates about their schemes, it opened my eyes up to these different opportunities. For engineers, the faculty is also quite good when it comes to promoting internships and industrial placement schemes. The careers centre in Student Services can also come in very useful. Babcock had a drop in session there last November where I met the head of recruitment. I spoke to her about the summer internship that I had at UTC Aerospace Systems in 2015 and scholarships that I had received. This ultimately led to me applying for my placement here.
My Industrial Placement is currently at the Babcock International Group, a FTSE 100 company, based at HMNB Devonport in Plymouth. The placement scheme that Babcock offer to engineering students allows them to come into the company and get an idea of what the graduate programme that they offer is like. Throughout the 12 months, I will do three placements in areas of my choice. My current placement is in the T23 LIFEX (Life Extension) team in Class Output Management which is an office that oversees the management for the country’s complex warships, As you can imagine, there’s a lot of official sensitive and restricted documentation involved. My following two placements are going to be in Naval Architectural design, and my final placement is in production on HMS Vanguard, a Trident ballistic missile-armed submarine.
What have you enjoyed most so far about your placement?
As well as working on my placement, Babcock encourages all of their graduate & undergraduate employees to sign up as STEM Ambassadors. STEM Ambassadors can be anyone over the age of 17 with skills or interests in Science, Technology, Engineering and/ or Maths, and their role is to inspire and engage young people in STEM related subjects. I am now a STEM Ambassador, and alongside my job, I am currently working at a local Plymouth secondary school on an engineering project, the Engineering Education Scheme (EES). The EES scheme partners a school with a local company and the sixth form students at the school are tasked to create a solution to one of the company’s needs. This has been thoroughly enjoyable. I also had the chance to have a tour of a submarine in the dockyard, seeing the living arrangements on-board and seeing the submarine’s control systems. This was a particular highlight.
What are your career plans after you’ve completed your course?
At the moment I’m keeping my options open. I think after all of the automotive related projects that I’ve been fortunate to have participated in, I would like to go into the motorsport industry and particularly into race car aerodynamics. Although there is an opportunity to go onto the Graduate Programme following my current placement at Babcock, so that is also another route that I can go down too. Depending on my career path, I am also looking to become a Chartered Engineer.
How do you think your placement will help you in your career?
I think my current placement will be extremely helpful. I’m hoping to see as many different jobs that I can do in Babcock by doing three placements in different areas; Design, Production and Management. My 12 month placement can also be used as part of my experience criteria needed to become a Chartered Engineer, so I am currently looking at any UK-SPEC competencies that I can meet to help fill the requirement for chartership. Finally, the experience that I will gain this year can also be used and applied to lots of different career paths that I could go down after graduation.
What advice would you offer to students who are considering a placement?
Go for it. A degree from Southampton will give you the academic qualifications that you need to pursue the career that you would like, but getting work experience is just as important. It’s also a great way for you to realise what you do or don’t want to do after graduation. There are no such placements as bad placements, but only roles that you have realised you are not interested in. Ultimately the more opportunities you have, the more likely you are to find your interests. I appreciate that taking 12 months out of your studies for some might feel too long, so I would also really recommend looking at summer internships to give you some industrial experience prior to graduation.