This summer I undertook a 12-week business/engineering internship with Howden, a Chart Industries Company, based in the Aftermarket team. My role has been focused on a variety of interesting projects including value stream mapping, warranty optimisation, and digital product passports, with the aim of streamlining the processes of the Aftermarket division.
The welcome I received from everyone at Howden was fantastic and really helped me settle into my role. On my first day I was lucky enough to be given a factory tour, seeing the production and assembly lines in full flow, opening my eyes to some brilliant engineering right here in Scotland. I then spent the rest of the day with a graduate in the Aftermarket team, which helped me ease into the role even more as I was beside someone more similar to myself in terms of age and experience.
My manager gave me various tasks throughout my time at Howden and pointed me in the direction of people who would help me understand those tasks better. Having a certain amount of freedom to schedule meetings and introduce myself to staff in other departments was a good way to practice my people skills, developing relationships within the office and getting to know the people at Howden. The Aftermarket team also had daily meetings to get everyone up to speed on certain topics within the business, which I was involved in straight away, and helped me quickly grasp how much of a team they are.
Further into my internship, I was regularly scheduling meetings and hosting workshops with relevant staff to get their input and feedback on my projects. Doing this allowed me to grow my presentation skills, adapt to critical feedback, and work with many people from different teams. Day-to-day I would be working on my projects and having meetings, then at the end of each week I would summarise the work to my manager, and we would then discuss where to go next, how to improve, and how I am finding the experience so far.
Furthermore, I was able to spend some time in the factory beyond a tour, spending a week rotating between, rotor line, casing line, quality management, assembly and test. Spending time in these areas was great to experience firsthand the day-to-day work of the factory workers and helped me understand the product much better as it was in my hand rather than on a screen.
I am very fortunate to have had this opportunity with Howden and must take this time to thank them and the Saltire Scholar team for their ongoing support and for the experience as a whole!
