BLOG: Operations Placement Student Sean says Everyone has Taken him Under Their Wing

When Sean – a BSC Civil Engineering student at Nottingham Trent University – applied to Winvic’s Year In Industry programme, he was no stranger to the company, as he got in touch months before and we offered him a two-week work experience placement in the summer of 2022. During that time and now as a Winvic Trainee Site Engineer, Sean says that he’s found everyone to be accommodating and either answer his questions or point him in the right direction.

Read on to find out about the project Sean’s working on, the other sites he’s visited and the tasks he’s been doing. His best days have been when he’s learned something new, and with the St Modwen Park Derby project continuing until summer, there will be plenty more of those days to come.   

What projects have you been working on?

I have been working at St Modwen Park Derby where Winvic is constructing five industrial facilities which total 350,000 sq ft, and Winvic also constructed the first four units on the new logistics park. They are being handed over in sequence with the first before Christmas and the last in June, so I’m hoping to be able to stay on this project until the end so I will have seen all the different stages of construction. I’ve also been on site visits to Kent Street Baths which is a multi-room project in Birmingham and Symmetry Park in Rugby where four industrial units were being constructed at the time. All of these have since been handed over and  Winvic has commenced the final phase. I stayed here working with different members of the Derby team for my commercial and planning placement weeks as well as spending a couple of days at Winvic’s headquarters in Northampton.

How did you come across Winvic and what made you choose us?

A family friend works at Winvic and suggested I look into them for some work experience, I liked the look of the business and what I had heard about them, so I applied for a work experience placement and was successful in securing a two-week placement in the Summer of 2022. I spent the two weeks shadowing an engineer on an Ocado fit out project at Panattoni Park Luton and that experience encouraged me to apply to spend my placement year with Winvic. When you speak to any Winvic staff they can’t praise the company enough.

What responsibilities have you had in the last 5 months?

Recently I’ve been setting out a lot of works with the Total Station, which is an electronic instrument used for surveying and building construction. So, whether it’s kerbs, yard slabs or the concrete plinths that the sprinkler tanks will sit on, I get the drawings, put the correct coordinates on the equipment and mark out where the works need to be installed. I shadowed the site engineer, Sky, but when he went to college in September, I started to take on more responsibilities. I quite like handling tasks on my own as it builds my confidence even further. I’ve also got involved with surveying the amount of material taken from a borrow pit, which is an area that is excavated so that the material can be used elsewhere on site. I created an as-built survey of the ducting in one of the buildings too, which pinpoints the exact location of the finished installation on the drawings.

What has been your best day on site so far?

Any day when I’ve learnt something new or when I’ve seen a construction process that I’ve not seen before. At the start of my placement year everything was new to me, and I was learning lots every day, but obviously it’s slowed down now. Pre-cast installations like lift shafts and stairs have been a bit daunting but exciting as you have to keep checking everything is lined up while the elements are being slowly installed.

What’s it like being part of the Winvic team?

The team is great. We all have a laugh and joke but work hard. Everyone here, and the team I worked with on my two weeks work experience, have taken me under their wing. They’re all accommodating, and I can ask anyone anything, and I know they will give me the answer or point me in the right direction. But if they think it’s something I should know or can work out myself they send me off and it’s the best way to learn and remember.