Maria is a second‑year Mechanical Engineering Technician Apprentice employed through Imperial College’s Technician Apprenticeship Scheme, a four‑year programme aligned to the Level 3 Engineering Technician Apprenticeship. As part of her Apprenticeship, Maria completes the academic element of her qualification at Kingston College, developing the theoretical knowledge that complements her hands‑on training at Imperial.
Why did you decide to do an Apprenticeship?
“An Apprenticeship was always something I wanted to pursue rather than traditional routes, as it combines education with on-the-job training, which I personally find better than only learning theory in a classroom. An Apprenticeship gives me the chance to apply learning in the workplace and to develop techniques and skills that I would otherwise have missed.”
What does a typical day look like?
“A typical day as a Mechanical Engineering Technician Apprentice involves being assigned projects to practise my machining skills, which can be on a lathe or milling machine. I also work with a variety of other machinery like surface grinders, EDM (electrical discharge machine), welding machine to only name a few and use a variety of tooling.
“On occasion, I am given a real job requested by a student or research lab. Sometimes these opportunities involve designing and problem‑solving rather than following an engineering drawing, which can be challenging but expands my knowledge. There is also time for studying and catching up on college work during the day and modelling up designs on SolidWorks CAD software.”
What new skills have you gained?
“The technical skills I have learnt as an apprentice are the use of measuring equipment to accurately measure workpieces. Learning CAD software like SolidWorks has been challenging but a useful skill for designing workpieces and projects.
“The soft skills I have gained in the workplace have been teamwork and problem solving. Teamwork is so important in the workshop, especially as an apprentice. Everyone is willing to help, and problem‑solve with you, which has been great. Problem‑solving has been the key skill I have learnt, especially when things go wrong and I need to come up with a solution.”
What has been the most rewarding part so far?
“I think the most rewarding part has been learning and developing my skills within the workshop with the help of coworkers with an immense amount of knowledge behind them. Every day I learn something new and always improve from my last project. Seeing how your machining progresses through the Apprenticeship makes you reflect on how much you have learnt even in a short amount of time.”
What advice would you give to somebody considering this route?
“I would tell anyone considering this route to have an open mind about the role. If you are passionate about learning, want to learn how to machine on mills and lathes and design and create workpieces, then this Apprenticeship would be ideal for you.
