An industrial placement can offer mutual benefits to both parties; however they can be in very different ways. Firstly the student gains a wealth of benefits from experiencing the professional work environment, which in my opinion helps bring out their mature side. I personally consider this to be the biggest benefit as it can prepare them for post graduate jobs. Specifically relating to Aker, I feel that understanding the logistics of such a large corporation was a lot to take in initially, simply due to the fact there is just so much going on. Even just referring to my department alone, they are required to meet the client’s up to date specifications on a daily basis as well as process hundreds of transactions and orders. However, I soon realised that being submerged slap bang in the middle of a booming sector of the oil and gas industry has helped me gain a much deeper insight into how companies operate. Not solely just relating to design, but ranging right through from material purchasing orders, instrumentation and even as far as project coordination. So in essence it is allowed me to see much wider scope of work that is more than just design orientated, including how to manage my time effectively. Most of the components and assemblies I have been working on designing are sub contracted to be hand turned on a lathe from a solid piece of material, most commonly steel. As each component must sit flush with each other this is the most logical manufacturing process because it can allow the components to be so precise they have tolerances of up to just 0.5mm. However, if this process is rushed or not done to a high enough quality then assemblies risk not fitting together correctly, resulting in re-production at an extremely high expense or catastrophic mechanical failure. I would say this has taught me how to pursue the best quality work I possibly can in anything that I design. However, the most noticeable development I would say is my CAD skills, where before I would have just rushed into designing/constructing an object, my time at Aker has allowed me to see how professionals do it. Everything they do is planned out beforehand to be sure it is done the most effectively. So now I can take a few minutes before hand to visualise how and what the best way is to design the object. For example, all parts and assemblies are required to be created on the front plane in Solidworks with the origins of the model and the plane mated together. They are fixed in place which avoids any glitches in the assembly when the files are saved and shared throughout the database (S.A.P) to different departments. It also creates a steady consistency of quality throughout every assembly model. Another major development in my work is that I can now model something in an industrial manor, meaning I would start with a solid piece of material and gradually remove each feature in the component until I’m left with the final solution. This is an insightful change in my opinion, whereas as before I would just be modelling something for the sake of acquiring the desired shape, look and function. I am now aware of why I am constructing it in a specific way (with regards to how it will be manufactured), why it is done in this way and what the benefits are (such as surface finishes/cost/time constraints). Going back to before I started at Aker, when designing models on Solidworks I would tend to just add material onto the existing model and build off pre-existing faces etc. Whereas now I know that there is a much more accurate way. Which is compulsory within the company because poor design can mean internal depressurisation or mechanical failure, resulting in a possible loss of millions (or even billions) of pounds. As cliché as it sounds, in some ways I feel like I have been left to learn from my mistakes in regards to the work that Aker have presented me with. As both my supervisor and myself agreed, the help I was given referring to CAD was minimal (although was available if and when needed simply by asking) as we both thought this is the best way to learn. By struggling and fumbling my way through some of the work I feel that in the long run it worked out best for me as I was then able to refer back to it more vividly than I would have if someone had simply shown me how to do it.
