One of the top 50 young people making manufacturing smarter in 2021

Sam was named as one of the top 5o young people by the Manufacturer in March 2021 - read the article here. 

My journey to university:

"I first developed an interest in electronics at GCSE, I bought an Arduino starter kit and went from there! When it came to deciding on a course for University it felt natural to choose electronics as a lot of the projects I had done throughout GCSE and A Level had been heavily electronics based and its where my passion for engineering comes from.

Sheffield is a fantastic city. There is always a real buzz and so much going on around the University and city centre. The city is also very green and there are plenty of open spaces that make it a nice environment to live in."

Extra-curricular activities:

"In the 2017/2018 academic year I was involved with the EEE Society, Gaming Society (SLUG Soc) and the Avalon ROV Group. I got involved in the EEE Society as I was interested in meeting other members of my course and going on the Industrial trips that they had on offer. I played video games for a lot of my childhood so it felt natural to be part of a society that had regular meetings to play games and meet like-minded people.

I got involved in Avalon ROV as extra-curricular engineering projects were one of the big draws to University for me and it sounded like a really interesting project that would give me some additional engineering experience. Societies like SLUG Soc allow for you to meet new people, make friends and relax after a long week at University. It's important to have things to do other than your course so that you don't burn yourself out."

My Placements at Siemens:

"I've now worked at Siemens for two summers, both times for the Congleton Drives Factory in Cheshire. One placement was on site (so I spent a great summer exploring Cheshire!) and one was remote due to the pandemic.

During both placements I have worked on implementing digital technologies within the factory. This has included software development topics such as Internet of Things (with Siemens Mindsphere), Machine Learning, Data Analysis and User Interface design. I was also involved in presentations to management during both placements. Both summers gave me brilliant experience across a wide range of technical and soft skills, with the summer of 2020 acting as a great lesson in working on development projects remotely.

I would recommend placements at Siemens to fellow engineering students.  Interestingly, I found the The Manufacturer opportunity through LinkedIn via some contacts from Summer placements at Siemens. The KTN had sent out a call for applications, so I spent some time formulating one with my experience from placements and university extra curricular work. It's definitely shown me the power of networking and social media!"

My Graduate Role:

"I'll be starting as a Graduate Digitalisation Engineer at Congleton in October. I'll be working on similar topics to the placements, but also expanding into areas such as Cobotics, Process Automation, Augmented Reality, Edge Computing, etc. I'm looking forward to getting started, it's a fantastic opportunity to work with modern technology in a practical environment with brilliant people. There is going to be plenty of opportunity to innovate and learn, which is what gets me most excited."

How University has helped me:

"I've had many opportunities throughout my degree that not only helped in securing the summer placements, but also aided in getting the most out of my short time with the company over each summer. My course has given me a broad range of technical knowledge and skills that I could apply in my work and use to understand the wider technology topics at Siemens.

Past experience of practical work from the course gave me a real head start during the real applications I was working on in Industry. Additionally, my involvement with organisations such as SELA and as President of the EEE Society gave me practical experience with working with Industry, presenting, communicating and teamworking. This was extremely valuable during the placements and helped me to make an impact in a short time."

For more information about the EEE Society follow them on Facebook  - @uoseeesoc