We benefit from the concentration of high-technology industries in
Bristol and the South West that provide us with industrial staff,
opportunities for student projects, internships (both summer and
year in industry placements) and - for many students - their first
job after graduating. Many
Computing students work during the summer, often spending two or three
months in a computing-related job in a company. Besides earning money,
this provides an opportunity to gain experience of the work-place,
build up knowledge, and create a network of contacts that may be useful
later.
"They bring us the latest views on some of the developments in
Computer Science ..... and an interest and enthusiasm which really
injects a more exciting air into the company that would otherwise
be missing”
Simon Lewis, Technical Director, Appliance Studio,
Bristol
Many companies are enthusiastic about employing
students in this way as it gives them an introduction to someone who
will probably be looking for a job when they have finished their degree.
In addition, the placement may provide the topic for a final-year
project.
Our students have worked
at a wide variety of companies, many of them local to Bristol. The
area hosts many appropriate technical companies including software
development, animation, microelectronics, games and communications
as well as significant computer users such as financial services.
They include multinational companies such as Hewlett-Packard, STMicroelectronics,
Infineon and Nortel, alongside start-ups such as Xmos,
Clementine, and Netsight.
Whenever a company or student
approaches us about summer placements we try and find the right candidates
for the right jobs.
Hamza Messabhia 2006 Graduate
Whilst studying my Computer Systems Engineering degree I had the opportunity to complete two summer work placements. During my first, I worked for the consumer business innovation centre at Philips Semi-conductors in Southampton to improve the playability of DVD recorders. This involved a lot of research and collaboration with real engineers where I had the chance to practice object-oriented and embedded software programming.
For my second placement, I spent twelve weeks with the Research and Development team at Hewlett-Packard in Bracknell. I worked with the HP team on a new version of HP Open View Business Process Insight, an administrative console to model, monitor and manage business processes. I was responsible for software testing, database management and coordinating with the team on IT tasks.
I really enjoyed my placements and feel that I benefited hugely from the valuable and relevant experience. Aside from the great people I worked with, perhaps the best part was applying the knowledge gained from my degree to solve real-world problems.
"At
HP Labs, our point of view is that it is always good to have young
people involved. Young people will think out of the box, off the
wall, they will look at the world differently”
Martin Sadler, Director, Trusted Systems Laboratory, HP Labs
