© ©Thales
Liam
YOUNG
Graduate Systems Engineer
I joined Thales as a graduate Systems Engineer in September 2015 after studying Mechanical Engineering with Management (MEng) at The University of Manchester. I am from a small village in North Wales so moving to London was a big step for me but it I have loved every minute of it so far!
At the moment I am coordinating the ‘Classroom to Thales’ programme on behalf of Ground Transportation in the UK, which aims to encourage young students to pursue engineering careers by educating them about engineering and acting as inspirational role models.
The program involves 30 graduates and senior members of staff in the London and Manchester offices who have been visiting schools and educating students about engineering and Thales. I have so far delivered 5 outreach activities and the team has reached 2300 students at 23 different schools. We are now developing an action packed work experience week for 24 students in the London and Cheadle Offices.
One of the successes I have seen is a massive improvement in my presentation skills! My main aim for taking part in the scheme was to improve my public speaking abilities. I went from being very uncomfortable presenting to large groups to delivering talks to up to 300 students and actually enjoying it!
Along the way, I have received great feedback from both teachers and students regarding the outreach I have been involved with. I have made good connections in the schools I have been involved with and hope to continue working with them in the future. Some of the best feedback from I school I received was a school that said some of the students had actually requested to change their A-Level options to pursue more STEM subjects after we had spoken to them about engineering.
I have really enjoyed all the STEM outreach I have been involved with and I know how valuable taking part in them can be, not only for the students, but for the person performing them as well. I hope that the success of the Classroom to Thales programme will encourage other employees, particularly graduates to get involved with similar schemes. I know I will continue performing outreach activities long after the programme finishes.
At the moment I am coordinating the ‘Classroom to Thales’ programme on behalf of Ground Transportation in the UK, which aims to encourage young students to pursue engineering careers by educating them about engineering and acting as inspirational role models.
The program involves 30 graduates and senior members of staff in the London and Manchester offices who have been visiting schools and educating students about engineering and Thales. I have so far delivered 5 outreach activities and the team has reached 2300 students at 23 different schools. We are now developing an action packed work experience week for 24 students in the London and Cheadle Offices.
One of the successes I have seen is a massive improvement in my presentation skills! My main aim for taking part in the scheme was to improve my public speaking abilities. I went from being very uncomfortable presenting to large groups to delivering talks to up to 300 students and actually enjoying it!
Along the way, I have received great feedback from both teachers and students regarding the outreach I have been involved with. I have made good connections in the schools I have been involved with and hope to continue working with them in the future. Some of the best feedback from I school I received was a school that said some of the students had actually requested to change their A-Level options to pursue more STEM subjects after we had spoken to them about engineering.
I have really enjoyed all the STEM outreach I have been involved with and I know how valuable taking part in them can be, not only for the students, but for the person performing them as well. I hope that the success of the Classroom to Thales programme will encourage other employees, particularly graduates to get involved with similar schemes. I know I will continue performing outreach activities long after the programme finishes.
I am passionate about STEM outreach because I owe my career to a STEM initiative called the Engineering Education Scheme Wales which first opened my eyes to engineering whilst I was doing my A-Levels. Without the scheme, I would have likely studied a degree and pursued a career that wasn’t right for me. I am very much an engineer at heart and have always loved problem solving, being creative and carrying out design projects. I would not have been fulfilled by a career which did not allow me to do these things.