Dr Kim Littlewood Kim.littlewood@plymouth.ac.uk

Industry contact to support placements Dr Kim Littlewood Kim.littlewood@plymouth.ac.uk

Kim Littlewood Chartered Civil Engineer • 25yrs experience • Consultant, • Contractor, • Client organisation, • Own business

Kim Littlewood Particular interest in bridges, sewers, railways, tunnels ….

Started working at Plymouth University 3 years ago Worked with a number of Plymouth graduates over the years whilst in industry (SCE, DE etc.) One of my aims has always been to help prepare students for the workplace

Discussed with colleagues Started with a 20 credit BSc course Aimed at improving contacts and developing student understanding of industry

A number of themes • Industry focused lectures • H&S day lead by a contractor • Site visits • Contact with Industry Representatives

Industry focused lectures • What does this mean?

Industry focused lectures • Often prepared using industry supplied materials • e.g. time lapse CD supplied by Mackleys, photo sequence supplied by Balfour Beatty

Industry focused lectures • Emphasis on what the students need to know • e.g. what is the difference between a contractor and a client? • How is this actually done on site?

Industry focused lectures • Strong practical focus

H&S day lead by a contractor • Successful full day H&S training, lead by Toby Liberson of Interserve • Gives students a step towards CSCS card (plans are to get students through full CSCS card next year) • Students can put this on their CVs

Site visits • Steel frame building (PCA) • Concrete framed building (Stonehouse Arena) • Planned maintenance (Royal Albert Bridge) • Road (Dawnus Construction) • Large site (EfW plant) • Emergency works (Dawlish)

Site visits • Very successful • A wide range of visits that gave students a strong insight into the sort of work a Civil Engineer does • Emphasis on linking back to academic learning (e.g. structures lecturer assisting on steel frame visit)

Contact with Industry Representatives • On site, range of different contacts; • other graduates and placement students • talking to operatives • meeting Site Agents and Engineers • Site Managers • Understanding of roles, responsibilities and ways of working

How has this helped the students? • Improved understanding of industry, roles, responsibilities and ways of working • Contact with a number of different companies. understanding of client / contractor / consultant roles • Improved CVs and targeted applications

How has this helped the students? • A case study; • Mansell ran a competition for a student to spend a full day shadowing their Engineer • The student who won the competition then spent 6 weeks helping out on site every Friday • Impressed the engineer so much that he got offered a placement • Potential job offer

Issues and comments • Very labour intensive to run • Relies on goodwill from industry, and good industry contacts – already planning next year’s visits • Currently compulsory module - some students don’t enjoy site visits

Issues and comments • Higher than usual BSc placements this year (traditionally been an area of lower placement take up) • Several students have used the contacts that they have made to help them in their search for placements • Less likelihood of students getting placements without realising what sort of work the company does (scattergun approach to application) • Improved interview technique – includes understanding of more of the “language”, processes, and technical issues

Ongoing improvements • This has worked well, as it is offered to a small group (15 students) • More focused approach 2015/16 - will be offered as an option to MEng / BEng students who want to get a placement or work with a contractor

Summary Improved access to placements and overall employability by focused module

Dr Kim Littlewood Kim.littlewood@plymouth.ac.uk