Bathsheba Suri is an enthusiastic and bright year 12 student from Liverpool Girls High who has an ambition to become a civil engineer. Before she started the HSC and then committed to university she was keen to get some insight into ‘what it is like to be an engineer’.
She heard about LA Services and its innovating approach to engaging with schools through students from Liverpool Boys High School (our school-based student internship partner). So, Bathsheba decided to contact our General Manager (David Fox) to ask if she could spend a few days with our engineers, following a brief introduction meeting and workshop tour Bathsheba agreed to spend two full days on our
site to expand her understanding of engineering and how it fits into heavy manufacturing.
Over the course of her first day Bathsheba spent some time with the David where they discussed the role of a modern engineer in society drawing on some well know problems and projects from around the global that have significant engineering influences and lesson learnt, this conversation was later rounded out with a workshop tour to illustrate first hand some of the engineering used in pressure equipment manufacture. David also provided Bathsheba with several inspiring articles and case studies featuring women in engineering across everything from drones in agriculture, to the subways of New York and the recent developments in timber buildings. LA Services’ Macquarie University Graduate engineer Raaid Allam then took over, walking Bathsheba through design processes and how problems are approach, they then put this into practice by designing and modelling a phone case. They also spent quite a bit of time talking about the different engineering disciplines and exploring her reasons for choosing civil and Raaid’s for mechanical.
Day two took a closer look at LA Services and how the different engineers its employees contribute to delivering its products and services. Bathsheba was introduced to everyone and given a brief overview of how projects are transformed from an enquiry to the finished product. Raaid also explained different steel manufacturing methods from heavy forging and how they are used in pressure equipment to how the future might look using
3D metal printing, augmented reality and machine learning. Taking Bathsheba through the various processes used in manufacturing and the engineering behind these such as supply chain & material integrity, project management, design and data visualisation helped her to understand the diversity of an engineering career, the required team work in problem solving and how engineering disciplines are crossing over as technology blurs the lines between industries, products and services.
Over the course of the two days Bathsheba impressed everyone at LA Services with her questions and curiosity about the world around her. Raaid summed up his time with her through the following quote “Bathsheba is she is driven and ambitious, I can see her going to university to study either structural or civil engineering. I think the future looks bright for Bathsheba, and I wish her the very best with her travels.”
LA Services would like to also wish Bathsheba all the best in her upcoming HSC and securing her dream of becoming an engineer. We are also grateful to Liverpool Girls High for supporting our ambition to assist the next generation of employees by allowing them to experience engineered-to-order manufacturing to help them make informed decision about their future careers.