Beth Syme

Graduate Supportability Engineer

Tell us about yourself

I work at Leonardo’s Luton site as a Graduate Supportability Engineer. My role involves planning cost-effective support of equipment throughout its life, including analysis of equipment reliability, maintainability and testability. I would like to continue developing my supportability knowledge and skills, and hope to become a Senior Engineer over the next couple of years.

Why did you join Leonardo?

I heard about Leonardo through my University in Durham, whilst studying General Engineering. I applied for the summer placement scheme and overall undertook three summer placements in different areas of the business. I was then offered a place on the Graduate scheme, and decided to join the Supportability team.

What does life on the Graduate Programme entail?

I enjoy my job because the tasks I carry out are varied and across a range of projects. The work is challenging and I regularly liaise with engineers from other functions. I have also had the opportunity to take part in Integrated Project Team (IPT) meetings, and helped lead workshops in different areas of the UK.

On top of my day job, I am a representative on the Luton site’s employee forum, the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), which aims to improve the working environment by raising employee concerns. I also help organise site-wide events, such as an after-work Badminton Club. Additionally, I’m a STEM Ambassador, participating in a range of Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) events; I particularly enjoyed organising and managing Leonardo’s presence at the 2019 Big Bang Fair. It was rewarding to see so many excited school children learning more about engineering through our stand activities.

The modules on the graduate programme have been a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with people from sites across the UK and Italy, enabling me to improve my presentation skills and my team-working abilities. During Module 2 in Pomezia, I gave part of our group’s final presentation which was very well received.

How are you preparing for the International Graduate Conference?

As part of the graduate scheme, I am learning Italian, which will aid communication with my Italian colleagues during the International Graduate Conference. I have very much enjoyed working with my conference team, where we are researching methods to improve communication in Leonardo.

Our team split into three sub-teams, to investigate different areas of communication. Sub-team 1 looked at an internal social network for Leonardo, sub-team 2 – which I led – researched communication between Leonardo IPTs and businesses, and sub-team 3 investigated methods of communication between Leonardo in the UK and Leonardo in Italy.

The entire project team has been busy carrying out research through surveys and interviews. We then compiled a summary of this research and our proposed solutions into a final presentation. Whilst preparing, I have strived to put the skills into practice that I have learnt from previous modules, and I am very much looking forward to presenting at the conference.

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