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Ben Hunt

Ben Hunt

Graduate Engineer, Energy Innovation

Ben Hunt, Graduate Engineer, Energy Innovation.What attracted you to the scheme?

During my final year of my MEng in Materials Science at the University of Manchester, I was aware that I required further practical skills and industry experience to progress in my career. As the WMG programme offers the combination of short and long placements with industrial collaboration taking place within academia, it was clear this would be the best place to build these skills.

A typical day as a Graduate Engineer

As you rotate around projects, your typical responsibilities change along with the current skills you use. For one project, it involved planning a research proposal which aligned with and contributed to the ongoing department research, for other projects it involved developing algorithms through writing code in a newly learnt language. This is in addition to representing the University at industry partner meetings on collaborative product solutions.

What projects have you worked on?

The great thing about the rotational nature of the scheme is that my first placement involved applying my current knowledge to energy storage by researching the performance of novel battery materials, followed by my customer-facing second placement working on high-speed rotors for e-machines.

Projects range from working with autonomy to deliver a customer's project, to working on untested/innovative solutions for industry wide issues. The nature of my projects have spanned from hands-on lab work making the most of the world-class facilities and equipment, to gaining invaluable modelling and coding experience, to developing innovative engineering designs and feasibility studies for industrial partners. Getting stuck-in within all areas in the industry will vastly improve my employability options after the scheme.

Why should someone apply?

If you are looking for invaluable experience and support to begin your career, this is definitely the place to start. Your development and contributions are taken seriously and the opportunity to learn the breadth of skills across the projects is particularly unique. From experience, my advice would be not to hesitate to contact Louise, Louise is our Manager or any of the current graduates for information on the scheme – everyone is more than friendly! If you show a genuine interest for your chosen pathway, you will integrate well at WMG as everyone has a passion for what they do!

What are the best parts of the scheme?

WMG is multidisciplinary across the board, with my cohort built up from Physicists, Mathematicians, Chemists to Aerospace, Electronic and Materials engineers, and combined with our open-plan office, I’ve definitely found this has helped with collaboration and peer support during our placements. As part of the scheme, I will undertake and gain a Post-graduate Award in Automotive technology through the completion of MSc modules, along with internationally recognised project management qualification - all of which is excellent for my personal development and employability.

Further highlight have been; curating outreach programmes to teach the technology that I work with each day, free staff vouchers for learning languages or sports masterclasses, a more than generous holiday entitlement, and flexible working hours which help build time management skills and a work/life balance.