In our final edition of ‘The Interns’, we hear what John Hunter reckoned to his time at Labman. We’ve loved having our interns here over the summer, and look forward to welcoming more next year. Over to you John.
Work hard; play hard. If one company could optimise that phrase, it would be Labman. One second, you’d be lying under a robot fastening on a part that you designed, the next you’d be hanging off the indoor climbing wall, desperate to reach that next hold because the person before you couldn’t reach it. Then you’d be in a board meeting, discussing the design of a huge robot that in 6 months will be towering over people on the factory floor.
As a student coming into the internship with only one year of university under my belt, thoughts kept clouding my mind; ‘will I be experienced enough…will I be expected to know far more than I do and quickly find myself way out of my depth?’. All these worries were very quickly dispelled, and not because I knew everything, not even close, but because the Labman environment is perfect for rapid learning and getting straight into application. I could sit in a lecture and listen for an hour about the applications of a stepper motor; here I’d be handed one and in ten minutes be incorporating it into my design. No faffing. Just getting stuck in.
If you’re looking for a ‘Shirt and Tie’ engineering experience, then move on. One of the great values that this place holds is there isn’t a superiority complex; no ‘shouty’ senior engineers and timorous apprentices too shy to remark on perhaps a better way of solving a problem. Everyone’s friends with everyone; a product I think of the small and efficient team here at Labman HQ.
I feel I have been spoilt in my first internship; treated with the work and responsibilities of any other engineer and given such a great experience it’s difficult to call it ‘work’. Thanks, Labman.