Henry Kite

"The University of Manchester remains one of the most prestigious universities in the eyes of academics and businesses alike. I joined the university with a keen interest in engineering, and developed both a professional approach to my work, and a skills profile that enabled me to start my career on the right foot.”

When I joined the university, I was encouraged by the department to apply for industrial experience programmes during the summer breaks. After my second year, I was accepted by Elixent (Acquired by Panasonic in 2006) to work on configurable designs for the Japanese IC market. The company was incredibly welcoming, and provided a project suitable for the three months available, which proved to be a great success both for the company and myself.

The following year I was keen to continue participating with the industrial experience scheme, and secured a placement at Philips Semiconductors (now NXP), where I developed electrical simulation software. Although a very demanding project, it was extremely rewarding seeing the engineers using the new tools, and receiving feedback and suggestions. With both placements I received a visit from a member of staff, and after submitting a placement report was awarded the certificate for industrial experience.

Industrial experience is an invaluable part of a degree course. When you join a company as a student you have a unique chance to see what’s really going on in the world of engineering, and put the expertise you gain in lecture courses to good use. My placements allowed me to make a more informed choice about the type of job I wanted to apply for, which is especially difficult in this field since the range of technology available to graduates is so broad.

After graduating, I was recruited by Lutron Electronics to work as a project engineer in the US. In addition to my role as a designer, I am part of the recruitment team, responsible for locating new engineers from Europe. Having seen recruitment processes from the other side of the interview desk, I can truly stress the value of certified work experience, which makes a huge difference in an application. With a high volume of applications to filter, it often falls to experience level, in addition to academic achievements, to select candidates. I am confident that my work experience was a significant factor in my career, and hope that Manchester’s students continue to apply to this scheme."