When I applied to do my degree, I was very focused on getting a job in the automotive sector upon graduation. To this extent it was a successful endeavour; I was fortunate and upon graduation got three different graduate job offers (all of which were in automotive). I chose to go and work for Aston Martin, which was just as I would have wished when I filled out the UCAS form four years earlier.
Following graduation, I completed a three-year graduate scheme at Aston Martin. During this time I worked my way around a few different placements in various departments, which is a great way to learn how the whole business works and a real benefit of graduate schemes in general. At the end of the second year, I settled into a role engineering the steering wheel and driver’s airbag for the DB11, I was really happy to land this role as I had always wanted to work my way back to the safety division following my studies. That job meant I got to travel all over Europe looking at the entire production process, I also felt that it meant I finally got to put into practise years and years of education! I should mention to any prospective students… Yes, we did get to drive the cars we designed; a career highlight involved driving an Aston all the way to Scotland so we could look around a leather tannery.
After Aston, I moved just a few hundred metres to Jaguar Land Rover (the two companies share a site in Warwickshire). At JLR I developed the seat belt and child restraint system for Jaguar I-Pace, this was another highlight for me as at the time EVs were cutting edge and I finally got to play a part in designing a EuroNCAP compliant system (NCAP is the leading consumer test programme for vehicle safety). Since then, I have done seat belt systems for new vehicle programmes, from the virtual series using computer software to design and test right the way through to industrialisation (building the cars) and physical testing. Working at JLR meant I could access their MSc programme to do more modules specific to my current line of work. I am now the seat belt and child restraint architect; I oversee the design and application of these systems for several carlines which all spawn off one vehicle architecture. I have been working at JLR for over four years and continue learn new things each day. All three of my automotive employers are great places to work, I really like the automotive sector as it never sits still – we are always pioneering.