I’d been following the work of RAL Space for a few years, and was successful in applying for an exciting placement – testing spacecraft. STFC contributes to so much cutting-edge science and engineering, and it really seemed like the place to be. Everyone is happy to share their knowledge, and I enjoyed the work on my placement, both individual projects and team-based work, and I was accepted to join the Graduate Scheme following completion of my final year at university.
My role involves working with my team to prepare and conduct vibration and shock tests on hardware, manage the test control and data acquisition, analyse the data, and interact with customers to explain the data. I am also involved in developing the tests further, adding new tests to RAL Space’s capabilities, and improving analysis and understanding of data.
At the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory on the Harwell campus, there’s plenty of sport and recreational activities to get involved in. It’s easy to meet people from both STFC and the space companies on site, providing lots of collaboration opportunities, and taking a walk at lunchtime often leads somewhere new!
STFC enables a relaxed work environment where your work really feels appreciated, relevant and useful, and it fosters a culture of sharing knowledge across and within the departments. Enjoying your work is seen as important in STFC, and there is lots of opportunity to find out about other departments, with many people moving between them for a new challenge.
The graduate scheme organises training focussed on transferrable skills, improving self-reflection, team working, and developing leadership potential. Alongside that, we are also encouraged to attend department and STFC-wide training to learn new skills like programming, as well as ensuring we are properly trained for certain aspects of our role, like using specific software, or going into cleanrooms.
The STFC graduate scheme is accredited with various professional bodies and dedicates time and resources to helping us prepare and gain the experience needed to apply for professional registration in our respective specialisms. Throughout the graduate scheme and beyond, we are given new responsibilities and are able to explore new areas of work.
