Computer Science students nominated for awards during placement
Three undergraduate students from Newcastle University’s School of Computing have been nominated for awards during their industrial placements.
6 June 2024
As part of their undergraduate programmes, students Ben Atkinson, Lauren Hutchinson, and Ben Mulligan have each completed a placement in industry. All Newcastle University undergraduate Computer Science students can spend 9 to 12 months on a paid placement in the workplace between Stage 2 and 3. The placement can take place at any organisation, anywhere in the world.
Ben Atkinson, who is studying Computer Science with a specialism in Security and Resilience, has been on placement in the Software QA department at Newcastle Strategic Solutions (part of Newcastle Building Society) as an Automation Test Engineer.
Ben was nominated for the ‘Rising Star of the Year’ award due to taking on additional responsibilities and widening his role from automation testing alone to also include development work. As part of the award nomination, Newcastle Building Society’s Chief Executive, Andrew Haigh, remarked how Ben had made a commendable contribution in just a few months.
Ben explained “I’ve found my placement has enhanced my university education, as I’ve put my knowledge to use in real-life scenarios.
“I’ve gained more experience with systems and tools we’ve touched upon at Newcastle University, and I’ve learned how they are used within industry. For example, I’ve been able to use Burp Suite (a penetration testing tool) against our test environment websites to discover any vulnerabilities in new features before they are signed off.
“I’ve also expanded my knowledge on Kubernetes and CI/CD pipelines, and I can add this experience to my CV, which will give me a good advantage on the graduate job market.
“When I started my placement, I was aware that I was at the start of my career and thought I would spend my time doing low-level, unimportant tasks. That couldn’t be further from the reality; since my first day, I’ve made valuable contributions to large-scale, ongoing projects and have been able to implement changes that have improved processes for my colleagues. I feel like a valued member of the team, and I have had real insight into what I could be doing after graduation.”
Lauren Hutchinson, who has been on a placement at Siemens in the Digitalisation team, has been nominated for UK Intern of the Year due to her significant contributions to various projects through her placement.
Lauren said “I’m extremely grateful to have been nominated for the Siemens Intern of the Year. While on my placement, I’ve tried to embrace all the opportunities available to me, including taking part in the company’s annual Hackathon (where I had the chance to travel abroad to work with my international colleagues) and working on projects that will save the company £43,000 per year.
“I’ve also taken the opportunity to work as a STEM ambassador, working in local schools where I’ve developed my ability to explain complex topics in a way that is easy to understand.
“Having the opportunity to work on real-life projects has given me great experience in managing deadlines and improving my time management skills. This will be a great help when I am juggling multiple assignments in my final year at Newcastle University.”
Meanwhile, Ben Mulligan has been on a 13-month placement at Nissan where his Computing Science studies have been put to good use. He was nominated for Placement Student of the Year.
Marie Devlin, Deputy Head of the School of Computing at Newcastle University, said “It’s great to hear three of our placement students have been nominated for awards. Our undergraduates who complete a placement as part of their degree often say that putting their knowledge to the test in a real-world environment increases their confidence both for completing their final year and for looking for work after university.
“Students who have a placement year on their CV are placing themselves at a distinct advantage for the job market, as they have experience to talk about in interviews, as well as contacts in the field that they’re applying to.”
All three students will return to complete the final stage of their degrees in September. You can find out more about studying an undergraduate degree at the School of Computing on our website.
If you’re interested in welcoming a placement student to your organisation, please contact computing.placements@newcastle.ac.uk to find out more.