Heather Aitken

Tell us about your role at ASMPT.

I’ve had the pleasure of working in two different departments here at ASMPT, working alongside both the process and systems engineering teams. This has given me lots of opportunities to learn about the different sides of the business both working inside the labs and up in the office attending meetings. Being the first Systems engineering student at the Weymouth office means that I have had the opportunity to help define the role for my predecessors, figuring out what works for me and the team to enable me to develop my career while benefitting the company.

What is your favourite part of working at ASMPT? What do you enjoy most about your role?

I enjoy the freedom I have within my role to make the placement my own. My manager is very receptive to my interests, on projects within my department as well as having opportunities to work in/with other departments that I find appealing to me. Everyone is very friendly and accommodating to requests so I have had the pleasure of being able to spend some time on the shop floor building machines in which would not usually be a part of my role.

How much responsibility are you given in your role?

I have been given the opportunity to create a team manual for the systems engineering team. This is like a how to guide for the next student to use get up to date with projects and the process that ASMPT uses for project development. While this is a task I have been given sole responsibility for I rely greatly on my coworkers to fill in the gaps of my knowledge. By working with the team in this way I get an insight into lots of different projects and processes which otherwise I may not get to experience during the span of my placement year.

What is it like living in Weymouth?

Weymouth is a beautiful place and the people are all very friendly.

Do you feel your experience will improve your graduate prospects?

I feel that my role within ASMPT has greatly improved my graduate prospects as I have had opportunities to have hands on experience within my field and learn about how engineering companies operate. Not only has this given me the experience to go directly into the workplace once I have completed my degree, but it has also given me the opportunity to experience multiple different areas of my field enabling me to discover which areas I am most interested in and what I want to pursue in a career after I leave.