11 Sep

Internship report

by The Clerk

Internship report from Jennifer Williamson

In February this year, I attended the WCSIM Education Trust Supper and was really interested in the talk given by the Principal Supper Guest and Speaker, Simon Buckle (Head of the Climate, Biodiversity and Water Division at the OECD). He was giving his perspective on the Paris Agreement in strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change and discussing the role that scientists and engineers have to play in tackling the challenges.

I'm currently studying Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial College London, but recently I realised that my true passion is for Sustainable Engineering. Ken Sanders, current Master of WCSIM, introduced me to Simon after the talk. Simon was really lovely, and suggested I chat to one of his old colleagues, Nilay, a professor at Imperial College London. I did this and a few months later Nilay had helped me to land a 6-week paid summer internship at Sainsbury's.

For the internship I wrote a report on "Engineering Strategy and the Path to Zero Carbon".  The aim of the report was to develop a tailored high-level strategy to form the basis of Sainsbury’s 30 year path to zero carbon strategy. I enjoyed the project so much and I now know that it's definitely the area I'd like to go into when I graduate! I also wrote an article on LinkedIn about my internship ( https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sustainable-engineering-where-you-might-expect-jennifer-williamson/ ). 

The report is in two parts; the first part summarises current UK industry views on the path to zero carbon, and the second part analyses Sainsbury's data to develop a strategy for them. The second part is confidential, but I'm hoping to publish the first part on LinkedIn. I made sure to include Ken, Simon and WCSIM in the acknowledgements: 

"I would firstly like to thank Kenneth Sanders and the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers (WCSIM), Simon Buckle of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) and Nilay Shah of Imperial College London for leading me to this internship and project at Sainsbury’s."  

My LinkedIn article was shared by both the Sainsbury's and Argos accounts and by my boss (the Senior Engineering Manager at Sainsbury's), which helped me to gain so many contacts within the industry! I've already been offered a placement for when I graduate (although I still plan on applying for other graduate jobs for breadth of opportunity). Last year I was rejected by so many Sustainable Engineering internships, I presume because of my degree, and now I've already been offered one!

I am so thankful to WCSIM for helping me to achieve my dream career goals in this way.

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