In this new series of blog posts, I bring to you a long overdue recount
of my experiences so far on my year in industry in London.
I find it funny how I spent more time trying to come up with a pun
related title for this post than I did for the actual content. Lost? Don’t
worry, I’ll get you back ‘on track’.
It’s been nearly 6 months now since I’ve been on placement with the Rail
Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) down in London and I have to say, what an
experience it has been so far! I will start by giving you all a bit of
background on the company I am on placement with. RSSB is member-funded
organisation that carries out research projects, sets standards, promotes
sustainable principles and drives to improve Britain’s rail industry. I’ll need
more than a year to gain an appreciation for the sheer magnitude of the rail
industry in this country – it truly is an engineering marvel and one that is so
complex and intricate.
Now, as to my role. What is it that I do, you may ask? I’m currently one
of the three Student Research Analysts working in the Research &
Development team, writing knowledge searches and contributing to Horizon Scanning
activities. Knowledge searches are requested both internally and externally
from our members in industry and the topics can range from anything from
detailing all the mechatronics engineering solutions used in rail, to
geotechnical engineering solutions. Horizon Scanning is a new addition to the
department’s portfolio and it’s all about finding what technologies and trends
are on the horizon and how we can capture them before they become mainstream in
the news. As a team, we’ve been going through all the latest, up and coming
emerging technologies and looking at their future impacts on the rail industry
and where they are used in other industries. My day can begin by looking at the
impacts of driverless cars on the rail industry to figuring out the mechanical
processes behind 4D printing (yes, that is a thing).
The other aspect of my job that I love is the fact that I get to live
and work in London! The office is in a great location in Central London however
I’ll talk more about London life in another post. As much as I do miss
Sheffield, I keep thinking that I’ll probably end up missing London 10 times
more when I’m back for my final year.
The work here is varied and if you’re as much of a tech geek as I am,
then you’ll love this job. This is the time to get your inner engineer to shine
and to show off what you know about in areas of technology ranging from
driverless cars to additive manufacturing to biometrics and facial recognition.
If this placement opportunity sounds interesting to you, APPLY. The
placement is currently listed on Career Connect (https://careerconnect.sheffield.ac.uk/student/jobs.html?execution=e1s2).
The deadline is March 1st so for those who are still looking for a year-long placement, you have
just about a week to send your CV and covering letter to placements@rssb.co.uk
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