During the event, pupils from schools local to Renishaw’s headquarters in Gloucestershire attended to gain an insight into engineering. A total of 96 students participated in the engineering work experience programme, while 21 took part in a dedicated software engineering work experience week. The engineering students were given a project brief, working in teams to create a business plan and concept model of a product. At the conclusion of the week, all students presented their work to senior management.
New this year was the inclusion of job shadowing, so each student was given the opportunity to shadow a Renishaw employee who was carrying out the same role that they had chosen within their team.
“The work experience weeks are a great opportunity for young people in the area to find out what an engineering career is really like,” explains Siobhan Denniff, education outreach executive at Renishaw. “The projects are modelled on the way Renishaw operates, which is why it’s great to see so many work experience attendees apply for our apprenticeships.
“At this year’s apprenticeship assessment, 15% of shortlisted applicants were from the work experience programme,” adds Denniff. “This is extremely encouraging, particularly as we are seeing an increase in applicants to our software work experience scheme, which we expanded from 2017 and now plan to further increase next year.”
James Joynson, a second year manufacturing apprentice at Renishaw and previous work experience attendee, was one of the team mentors this year: “I have always had an interest in engineering,” he says. “During my own work experience week, I took on the role of production engineer and was shown all of the facilities and equipment at Renishaw. Work experience really opened my eyes to Renishaw, and to engineering, and I would recommend it to everyone.”
