Meet Luke! Luke is a Mechanical Design Apprentice at Babcock who works in the Civil Nuclear sector of the business. Luke is based at the Dalton Avenue site in Warrington.
You can read more below on why Luke chose Babcock for his Apprenticeship and why he chose his specific role. He also provides an insight into his typical day, his favourite part of the job and challenges he has faced.
My apprenticeship placement, why I chose it and why I chose Babcock:
I chose to complete a mechanical design apprenticeship based off an internship which I completed. Prior to this I had no real clue what I wanted to do other than it would be in engineering. I therefore made use of an internship, not only to bulk up my CV, but to hopefully answer a few questions about what I was interested in along the way. Throughout the internship I experienced a number of disciplines and completed a number of tasks, each designed to give me a greater understanding of what each area entails. From this experience it became clear that the mechanical discipline was my preferred option. I also have a number of family and friends who were or are engineers, I used some of their experiences to confirm my decision. The reason I completed a design apprenticeship was down to two reasons, firstly, it is something I have enjoyed for a number of years and therefore seemed like a sensible option. And secondly, I liked the career path which this particular apprenticeship could offer me.
The reason for choosing Babcock was mainly down to the fact that my internship was with Babcock. I initially found the internship through word of mouth, and through my experience I was impressed with the way the business was run, and all the staff had really positive things to say.
My typical day:
A typical day for myself would include producing drawings, locating and accessing vital information, and the general design of components required to complete a task. As a second year apprentice who has completed the majority of college work, I am full time in the office and 20% of that time is spent doing off the job training.
My favourite part of the job:
For me my favourite part of the job is the physical 3D modelling of components. This is something I enjoy and to get paid to do it is even better. In addition to that, I do of course enjoy the sense of reward when a task is completed, within my industry, each completion of a task is another step to making the world a safer and more sustainable place.
Most challenging thing I’ve ever done to date:
I believe the most challenging thing I have done up to now is starting my apprenticeship in a pandemic. When I first started it was the height of the pandemic and times were very uncertain. But luckily, I was supported by Babcock and the early careers team, meaning I could continue my development and progress in my apprenticeship.
