“Finding a job after graduation can be difficult in today’s competitive graduate employment market and for many students this is reason enough to undertake summer work placements. So, when I was lucky enough to be offered a month’s work experience here at Aqua Group, I jumped at the chance.
My name is Toby and I am a current university student, in the second year of a BSc physics degree. My education so far has been relatively academic so, when the opportunity arose at Aqua to apply some of my theoretical scientific knowledge in the real world — physics in action, if you like — it seemed like the perfect work-placement for me. I was not disappointed.
Working at Aqua’s Segensworth head office was great fun and very much opened my eyes. Not only was it one of my first experiences of an office environment but, thanks to my new colleagues’ strong team spirit and the buzz of enthusiasm that pervades the company, I was immediately made to feel welcome and valued.
Being surrounded by experienced engineers was inspiring — they were approachable and down-to-earth, and happy to help when I needed input and advice with the research and prototype testing tasks I’d been set. I especially enjoyed applying the knowledge of theoretical physics that I’ve gained so far at school and uni to devising and carrying out a variety of tests, and then to interpreting the results in a way that hopefully will be commercially significant. My grounding in scientific basics helped me reach what I hope were useful conclusions that, in turn, may help to inform some of Aqua’s business decisions in the future.
For myself, working as part of such a dynamic team in such a fast-paced sector, the month I spent at Aqua was invaluable. Every day brought a new learning experience and I was able to see at first hand some of the myriad ways in which scientific theory learnt in lectures can be applied to solve real-world challenges, from pipes to pumps, cooling to heating, and in industries as diverse as manufacturing, agriculture, pharmaceutical, packaging, power generation, food/beverage, and education as well as, of course, IT and computer data storage.
I’m now in the middle of preparing for my winter exams, fired with renewed enthusiasm for my subject and its relevance outside pure academia. I am enduringly grateful for the support I was given during my time as part of the Aqua family, and hope that in some measure I have paved the way for more student interns to contribute to this exciting business and, in doing so, benefit from their own Aqua experience.”
