Charlotte Rigby, and undergraduate at Manchester Metropolitan University works as a Systems integration & Test engineer with Thales on an internship programme.
"I took the technical lead for a project, managed it through to conclusion and it's now in operational use, by the customer. Not bad for an intern!"
Involvement across the board
My industrial placement gave me exposure to a number of submarine and surface ship platforms. Providing operational submarine support involved working across departments, enabling me to develop an understanding
of emerging technologies, software and hardware testing, installation and customer acceptance of systems, plus our industry-standard practices.
Support for studies
I had to tick a number of boxes to meet my university’s requirements, such as hosting visitors and completing a logbook and report – and Thales were totally accommodating. When I returned to uni, they supported me in my
final-year project by giving me access to specialist resources.
And the future?
I’ve now returned to Thales on the IET-accredited Graduate Development Programme. Your work makes a real difference in the real world and you get to see it in action. Onwards and upwards from here!
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