Four Engineering students have successfully completed summer internships in renewable energy and clean tech with Ameresco, working on the company’s London Stadium Solar Roof Project.

Nasir Ali, a Chemical Engineering student, and Limbani Mdebwe, who studies Materials Science and Engineering, contributed to the Engineering team. Hameem Ahmed, a recent Chemical Engineering graduate, and Joshua Darkwa, who studies Sustainable Energy Engineering MSc, supported the Operations & Maintenance and Verification & Measurement teams.

All four students worked full-time for five weeks from mid-June. The opportunities arose from an engaging site visit led by the Ameresco team, during which students learnt about the London Stadium Solar Project and toured the venue and rooftop.

Reflecting on his internship, Nasir Ali said: "I was able to work on lots of projects, contribute real work, attend site visits, and gain access to information that cannot be obtained through studying and reading online. From the first day I was trusted with tasks, which meant I had to learn on the go."

Limbani Mdebwe added: "Having the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and witnessing the technical side of the energy projects Ameresco is working on, has taught me a lot. Especially, how my engineering background can play a critical role."

Joshua Darkwa said: "The London Stadium Solar PV project showed me how classroom learning can translate into real-world sustainable energy solutions, with my internship giving me the chance to contribute to working on one of the UK’s landmark renewable installations."

Gary Kristensen MBE, Performance Services Director at Ameresco, said: "Hameem and Joshua worked with the O&M and M&V Teams and have certainly been seeing the highs (from the rooftop Solar PV system we have installed on London Stadium), getting their hands dirty doing some panel cleaning and checking out the detailed design, fixtures, fittings, and construction methodology, plus potential and actual failure modes."

Mr Kristensen was so impressed with Joshua and Hameem that he extended their contracts for an additional two and three months respectively. "We have two very bright, intelligent and motivated individuals on our hands," he said.