Kalan Tadjouddine
- Course
- Chemical Engineering MEng
- Subject area
- Chemical Engineering
During my degree, I undertook a placement at GlaxoSmithKline as an Automation Engineering Industrial Placement student.
As an industrial placement student at GSK, working with a diverse group of people of all ages allowed me to develop my teamwork and communication skills. It has also allowed me to work through pressure and difficult situations.
While on placement I had the opportunity to manage a project to upgrade a monitoring system on-site. This experience helped me to significantly bolster my communication and management skills.
The requirement to communicate with all parties impacted by the project and find compromise when discrepancies occur has given me the opportunity to pick up key skills such as stakeholder management.
I was also able to further deepen my understanding of the disciplines of the parties involved due to the frequent contact, comprehending business requirements and quality assurance.
Placement has improved my ability to learn with agility and speed. It has allowed me to demonstrate and learn that I am adaptable and am willing to learn things that may be outside the job description, to ensure that my work is always completed to a higher standard.
The teaching on my course provided me with the ability to utilise data, taking note of the smallest details, and designing processes in such a way that they flow efficiently.
I thoroughly enjoy these aspects of engineering, which both my course and placement have reinforced.
The University also offers a variety of excellent career support services. I utilised the careers service in my second year to refine my CV ready for placement applications.
Following graduation, I am interested in pursuing a career that involves commissioning large engineering projects as a project manager.
I have chosen this career path due the experience I had on placement, which allowed me to understand these types of roles and how they work alongside others within a large organisation.
The advice I would give to someone considering studying this course is if you are unsure of exactly what you want to become in the future, a degree in chemical engineering will enable you to enter a multitude of different sectors and will allow you to have a flexible early career path.