Aerospace supplier puts new recruits through their paces
A MULTI-NATIONAL team of graduates from one of the UK’s biggest aerospace groups had their engineering skills put to the test during a work placement at the Lloyds Bank Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre in Coventry.
The facility forms part of the Manufacturing Technology Centre campus at Ansty Park.
The nine-strong team from Meggitt, which has an aircraft braking facility in the city, were tasked with developing the fastest reciprocating air motor possible. The assignment was part of Meggitt’s intensive three-year graduate training programme which also involves international and non-technical placements.
The graduates, from the UK, United States and France were split into two teams for the demanding project. It involved them competing for business by designing the motor, predicting its maximum speed, manufacturing a prototype to precise specifications, problem solving and preparing a business case for high volume manufacture.
Sushma Hayes, Meggitt’s global learning and development director, said the assignment made a valuable contribution to the graduates’ exacting training programme.
“The graduates worked extremely hard on this project. The opportunity to use the world-class equipment in the new Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre was a valuable experience for the team, and the specific engineering project they were tasked with developed a wide range of engineering, electronics, software, design, materials and problem-solving capabilities,” she said.
“They received practical hands-on guidance and training from experts at the AMTC throughout this assignment, which was extremely valuable.”
Dan Pearson, business development manager at the AMTC, said the Meggitt graduates had been able to use cutting-edge equipment at the centre which was among the best available worldwide.
“It was a good example of our ability to prepare the engineers of tomorrow for the kind of high value manufacturing skills which industry demands,” he said.
