Simon Beazley – Diamonds first apprentice
23 year old Simon Beazley, was in the second year of his electrical engineering apprenticeship when he came to Diamond. We caught up with Simon during his first week at Diamond to find out his initial thoughts and what he hoped to do in the future.
What did you do before starting the engineering apprenticeship?
When I left school I did lots of different jobs whilst I tried to get a place on the apprenticeship scheme. When I wasn’t successful I decided to go to college in Swindon to get an NVQ2 in electrical installation. I completed my qualifications by attending night school and working as an electrical practitioner during the day to gain experience. I then applied for the apprenticeship scheme again and this time was successful.
Have you always wanted to be an electrical engineer?
I knew from a young age that it was something I wanted to do. During science lessons at school it was the electronics work that I enjoyed the most and I chose to focus on electronics for my Technology GCSE.
What have you been doing during the apprenticeship so far?
My apprenticeship began with a year at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College from September 2007 to June 2008 learning about a wide range of engineering disciplines. It was good to get an appreciation of the other skills involved besides electrical engineering. I was able to put some of what I’d learnt and my previous experience into practice when I took up my first placement in R76, carrying out maintenance work on the power supplies for some of the extraction magnets used at ISIS. I was able to use similar skills and principles to the work I’d done before but on a much larger scale.
What have you enjoyed most so far?
It’s been really good to get back into full time work and do hands-on practical jobs. Working on this site is brilliant. The high-end science can sometimes be difficult to grasp but it’s great to see what goes on and to play a part in it. It is definitely the best place I have worked so far. I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in at Diamond, the facility itself is fascinating – like something out of a James Bond movie!
What do you hope to do once you’ve completed your apprenticeship?
I’m officially an ISIS apprentice so providing I complete everything to the required standard – we have to log everything we do to ensure that we’re meeting the apprenticeship criteria – I will probably go on to work in one of ISIS’s electrical workshops, continuing to do similar tasks but with more responsibility.
How would you sum up the engineering apprenticeship scheme in three words?
Interesting, motivating and rewarding.
Simon with Dave Cook on completing his time at Diamond.
Nine months on, Simons placement at Diamond was coming to an end so we caught up with him again to find out what he had been getting up to over the last few months.
You worked mainly in one of Diamond’s electrical workshops, what kind of jobs did you have to do?
My main job overall was rack building. There are racks all around the facility made up of electrical components that control various functions of the machine. When I first started I was given smaller boxes to work on and as I learnt more, I was given larger more complex components to complete which was great as I was constantly being challenged.
What is your proudest achievement from your placement?
After a few months I was able to work on building up complete racks from scratch. I successfully built one that is being used on one of the front ends to control the vacuum systems in the ring. I’m really pleased to have successfully completed it and actually see it in place, working as it should.
What have you enjoyed most about the apprenticeship scheme overall so far?
My placement at Diamond has been the best bit so far. I was given some really good tasks and a fair amount of responsibility which has really helped to increase my confidence in a real working environment. I owe a big thanks to Dave Cooke who supervised all of my work in the electrical workshop. He provided me with some good challenges and gave me help when I needed it.
What is next for you?
I’ll continue my apprenticeship and go over to R78 to carry out similar electrical work for ISIS. This time though I will have some experience behind me so I should be able to start on larger jobs straight away. Since I managed to cover a lot of the scheme’s criteria at Diamond, I’m hoping to complete my apprenticeship this summer and take up a permanent position at ISIS as an electrical engineer. That’s the plan.