I have recently completed my 4 week internship at GAP Ltd in Poole. This structural engineering firm has played a rather prominent role in construction and redevelopments across Dorset and beyond, from being the major engineers behind the Poundbury experimental town, to designing components of the mega infrastructure project Crossrail 2 in London.

My first week consisted mainly of being introduced to the programmes they use on a daily basis. This included Autocad, a programme that allowed the construction of very detailed 2D plans of buildings and associated infrastructure. This took me a while to get the hang of, although I had done some basic 2D design at school so I was slightly prepared. Likewise, when doing hand calculations, a lot of the maths and physics behind it we had already covered at school, although it was much more in depth and complex.

The second week followed much the same routine, but this time I was challenged even further with being entrusted with actual contracts the company had been given. One example was the demolition of load bearing walls at Nuffield Hospital, which required multiple beams to be designed to take the weight of the upper floor. Although small in scale compared to the projects the more experienced engineers were working on, I found this incredibly enjoyable. For the first time in my life I was working on something that would have an actual real-world impact, a sense of satisfaction that can not be matched at school.

In my third week things really vamped up. I was taken out on site every day, often visiting 2-3 locations a day. These ranged from Bournemouth Hospital to Bournemouth University, but the most interesting was when we were asked by the council to inspect a severely fire damaged building. The entire road was closed, and wouldn’t reopen until we had finished our inspection and confirmed it was safe to allow the public through. This was a new area of structural engineering that I had not thought about before, and really demonstrated the kind of responsibility an engineer has resting on them.

The final week was spent essentially fine-tuning what I had learnt in my time there. I learnt to use Revit, a 3D design computer programme that enabled me to create very detailed models of houses and other buildings. I was also given other small projects to work on, such as designing beams for a loft conversion in Christchurch, and designing new parapets for Bournemouth Uni.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my time at GAP Ltd. I spent four weeks with some amazing professionals who showed me the ropes and really got me engaged as much as possible. Honestly I wish the experience was longer than four weeks, as I felt I was only truly starting to understand the maths behind it and figure out the programmes in my final week. The long commutes to and from Poole every day were definitely worth it. The people there were welcoming and taught me skills that can not be taught in school, skills that will put me ahead of other candidates when looking for a job after university. I am incredibly grateful to Samuel Mico Trust for making all this possible, as well as the staff at GAP and Budmouth. I accomplished far more than I had ever hoped during my internship, and I gained far more out of these four weeks than I have over the past six years of school.