What was it like winning the Price Philip and Hammermen Awards?
Winning the Hammermen Award & Prince Phillip Award for 2018/19 was a great honour.
At the Hammermen level I was assessed and interviewed by internal members of staff on my work to date, ambitions for the future and the way I would utilise the winnings. On winning this award for DMEM I was asked to attend the Award Ceremony in the Trades House where I met the winner and runner up from each engineering discipline and university in Glasgow.
I was then selected into the running for the Prince Phillip Award, a separate award against each of the university winners and was lucky enough to win 1st place. This experience involved an interview with a panel of 5 established engineering managers from large companies as well as a member of the Hammermen Society.
I used the unique nature of DMEM alongside the projects and companies I had worked with to stand out from the more traditional mechanical and structural engineers.
Using my folios from past projects as a backboard, the interviewers loved the visual hands-on work that I had completed and my overall enthusiasm for future opportunities, which enabled me to win the award.
What opportunities has the experience provided you with?
Just before winning both award I was asked to join General Electric (GE) for a yearlong internship in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering at their site in Leicester. On winning both awards I had around £2,000 worth of prize money that I used for further training and development whilst working for GE.
I used the award to cover some of the costs of a week long course based in GE Aviation in Cheltenham. Having an intern complete this certification was the first for the company and with the aid of the Hammermen Society I was able to achieve this. The course was in SHAININ, a complex problem-solving methodology, like LEAN or Six Sigma. To gain my certification I am now leading an investigation involving our Chinese manufacturing plant, my team in Groby and coach in America to save the company thousands of pounds. This experience has been incredibly beneficial as I have had to communicate with people across 3 continents and multiple time zones to achieve the common goal of reducing waste and improving yield.
Here are a couple of pictures from my time at General Electric, the first was for my JStandard Soldering qualification which means I am qualified to solder parts for Aerospace Applications:
Another of the offices:
