ROLLS-ROYCE HOLDINGS PLC It's National Apprenticeship Week in England 6-13th February but we're celebrating across the UK and Europe. We talked to former Materials Engineering Degree Apprentice, Patrick:
"At sixth form, it was assumed that everyone would complete their A-Levels and then go to university and not much was said about apprenticeship opportunities or other career pathways. I knew that I liked Chemistry and Maths, so I submitted my UCAS application for both Chemistry and Pharmacy degrees. Whilst I received four offers, I wasn't sure if university was the right pathway for me. Instead, I decided to look down the apprenticeship route. I searched for opportunities online, went to apprenticeship fairs and that's where I realised, I didn't want to go and study for five years. I wanted to get into a job role and experience it first-hand. After searching, I stumbled across the Materials Engineering Degree Apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce, which fitted perfectly with what I was interested in. I knew it was an opportunity I couldn't miss!"
Alongside working at Rolls-Royce, Patrick studied with the University of Derby to gain a BEng (Hons) in Materials Engineering Technology.
"The degree is the foundation to the career. It provides you with the background and knowledge of a range of areas such as materials, maths, ethics and environment, innovation and much more."
"As part of the apprenticeship, we got the flexibility of working across Rolls Royce, from Civil Aerospace and Defence to Submarines and Control Systems. From this, we were assigned four-month placements in areas such as design, research and development, manufacturing, and after-market."
Alongside his degree, Patrick has had the opportunity to work with industry leading scientists and engineers, allowing him to learn and expand his skills.
"I have been able to work alongside world leading scientists and engineers as part of my projects. I was able to ask them direct questions about any problems I had on my projects which was super helpful. A lot of the study we do at university compliments the day-to-day tasks that we do at Rolls-Royce. Building a network of individuals from across the business to learn from has been invaluable. If we had a problem on our assignment, we could always go to specialists to expand our learning."
Patrick wanted an experience different to the typical university route, which has led him to trying things he never thought were possible as an apprentice. He explains:
"I have been put in positions where other people my age wouldn't have had the opportunity. Whilst on a placement in Submarines, I managed to travel down to HMNB Devonport and go on a submarine. You get so many opportunities to do things that other students wouldn't do or have access to kit or technology where there is only one available in the world. It's incredible."
After graduating in 2021, Patrick tool up a permanent role as a Materials Engineer in Civil Aerospace.
"Although I have graduated from my apprenticeship, I am still learning new stuff every day. I am now part of a team who are responsible for providing technical oversight of Rolls-Royce's raw material and forging external supply chain. I am responsible for assessing raw material to ensure that it is suitable for use and validating new manufacturing routes to ensure that Rolls-Royce is supplied with conforming forgings. The apprenticeship gave me the opportunity to develop my skills, attitude, and inquisitive mindset. In my opinion, the best thing about the apprenticeship is that it gives you loads of different applications to understand and consider, rather than focusing on one niche subject. It's not just the fundamentals, the apprenticeship builds you into a well-rounded engineer that has set me up with the skills and attitude that has allowed me to do my job well."
To learn more about our apprenticeships in the UK click here.Our Alert service delivers the latest press releases, stories and regulatory news directly to your mailbox.
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Rolls-Royce Holdings plc published this content on 10 February 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 10 February 2023 10:09:06 UTC.
