During the recent Skills and Employability Week, several groups of engineering students signed up for visits to various sites, including Thales Transportation, Southeast London Combined Heat and Power Plant (SELCHP), Advanced Healthcare Limited (AHL) and 3M.

At Thales Transportation, students saw how they control the Hammersmith, Circle and Metropolitan line – ensuring that the service is smooth and managing signal failures, learning about the Connect Project – a £2 billion pound project made to provide stations with emergency service communication as well as a demonstration of AI cameras monitoring people who come close to the tracks.

Students at 3M were given a tour the dry lab where material and safety analysis is performed, the customer innovation centre, they heard about 3M’s key innovations (such as the famous Post-It Note!) and 3M’s 15% culture which encourages employees to innovate.

The guided tour of AHL's facilities showcased the intricate manufacturing processes, from raw material procurement to product packaging. Through interactive sessions and demonstrations, we learned about the unique properties and applications of these materials, as well as their clinical significance in modern dentistry.

Feedback from students showed they rated the visits as good or excellent and the visits improved their understanding of the sectors the companies are based in. Nearly 80% of the students surveyed stated they were likely or definitely to consider a career in the sector of the visit host.

The Industry visits blog competition attracted many fantastic entries:

• Jannat Sultana Ambia's first prize winning blog of the 3M visit
• Mohmad Azim Mohmad Rafik Master’s AHL visit blog
• Wing Hei Lam’s AHL visit blog
• Fasika Abnet Bekele’s SELCHP visit blog
• Mitansh Vishalkumar Choksi’s Thales visit blog
• Radif Rafiqul's account of the Thales visit

These trips were part of our Skills & Employability week which happens in week seven every term, and gives students access to employers, and information about careers and industry.

Our Industrial Site Visit Programme takes our undergraduates to the employers and gives them a chance to explore engineering sectors and engineering roles.