My advice for people who wish to do their PDP outside of Loughborough is to plan ahead. Organising the PDP can take some time and therefore you want to be able to make sure you have the time needed to get over any hurdles you encounter. Using contacts from your industrial placements is a good way to find a PDP within industry as people may know other companies/professionals within the sector that may have something that interests you. However, the Department of Chemical Engineering still offers PDPs which focus on a wide range of topics.
For the PDP, the department provides us with a lot of information and lectures that we could attend to help us secure a PDP outside of the university. For me personally, my original plan was to do the PDP abroad and use laboratory facilities in another university. However due to the coronavirus pandemic I was unable to go abroad, I got in contact with my department, and they were able to provide me with laboratory space in Loughborough university so that I could continue my PDP that I had chosen to do. I was also given an academic supervisor within department to ensure I was fully supported during my PDP research project.
Besides my PDP, the greatest experience outside of my project has been my industrial placement year with Atkins. I worked in the nuclear and power sector and was able to work on major UK nuclear new build projects such as Sizewell C and small modular reactors (SMR).