The value of work experience placements within D&T - a student’s view 

I recently completed a week’s work experience at Ocado Technology in February 2022 during my year 12. It was an amazing, fun, engaging, informative and a lovely experience that I will take with me into my future.  

As a student we have lots of opportunities to stretch ourselves in school, however, by going beyond the classroom I was able to experience what design & technology was in the world of work.

During my work experience I had one major task and brief for the week which was to design components for use in the robots Ocado uses within their warehouses. With my knowledge of CAD software, I was able to quickly and efficiently design a variety of different components. I then exported these designs and sent them to three separate, high-quality, 3D printers: SLS (Selective Laser Sintering), MJF (Multi-jet Fusing) and FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling). The robots are large scale and in high demand. I was really impressed that my components were able to be printed and ready for testing in just a few hours. I completed many tests which included: vibration tests, pull tests and rotational force tests. I received detailed results and at the end of my work experience I was able to present my findings and design work to the Ocado team. They were all very impressed and pleased with my work, some of them even said they would replace some of their existing engineers with me if they could!

Industry experience is so beneficial within today’s society, and I know that having my industry experience will definitely help me improve practically and theoretically in D&T at school as I complete my A-level in Product Design.

I valued this work experience so much as it gave me an insight into the working world of design and engineering. It helped me confirm my choices for my future career pathway. I also met a wide range of people who taught me new and interesting facts and skills.

I believe everyone should try and partake in some kind of work experience while they are at school. It can really improve students' knowledge and help them get industry links that could possibly benefit them in the future. It also helps them decide if they really want to go down a particular career path.

With the CAD, workshop, and problem-solving skills I learnt during my work experience, I now have new skills and knowledge to take with me into school to create better outcomes in my A-Level. It was particularly helpful in putting the theory and practical side of the subject together in practice, which made for a really great learning opportunity.

The whole experience was a fantastic opportunity that benefited me in so many ways. I am so grateful for it and have a huge sense of achievement as Ocado is now using the components I designed for them within their robot design. This is exactly what design and technology work experience should be about:  having a student's work realised and taken seriously. 

This work experience has given me a huge insight into a possible future career. I hope I can complete another successful work experience soon.