Technology Students Visit DriveWorks
Earlier this week we welcomed nine students from local University Technical College, UTC to join us for a day of work experience.
Based in central Warrington, UTC is a state-funded, purpose-built technical college, that focuses on preparing students for careers in STEM by bringing together the best of education and industry.
The day was organised by The Pledge Partnership, a European Structural Fund (ESF) funded programme that connects local businesses with educators to provide young people in Warrington with the resources, skills and experiences required to succeed in the working world.
As a software development company, we had a lot of insight to share. We’re committed to supporting education. We work closely with students and academia to help support and nurture the future of STEM, enabling students to gain the right skills and knowledge they need to succeed.
Students came to DriveWorks as part of the 5 Days of Digital work experience programme being implemented by The Pledge Partnership.
5 Days of Digital has been designed as an updated version of the traditional work experience programmes. Students spend their week visiting digital companies in the North West to gain industry experience and learn more about the opportunities available in STEM.
As soon as the students arrived at DriveWorks HQ, they began an exciting day of digital work experience.
At the start of the day they were divided into two teams and given a brief;
‘To put themselves in the shoes of a DriveWorks customer and design a configurable product ready to present back to DriveWorks VP and Co-founder Maria Sarkar’
The students then began brainstorming some ideas and coming up with thier own unique product.
Throughout the day, Bridie from the DriveWorks team, took the students through a range of different activities, providing them with skills to ensure they were fully prepared for the final task.
Starting with a lego team building activity to highlight the importance of communication and working together.
“We learnt a range of skills, developing teamwork and initiative, and also learned about the DriveWorks business.”
After lunch, the students heard from different members of the DriveWorks team, all working in different areas of the company, talking through their roles and responsibilites.
First, Wesley, DriveWorks Principle IT Administrator, introduced the students to the variety of tasks he’s responsible for. He talked about the necessity for a digital company like DriveWorks to keep our systems constantly updated in the ever-evolving digital sector.
Next, Lucy from the marketing team demonstrated the importance of marketing in the digital world. Lucy showed the students the many techniques and tools we use to deliver consistent and effective marketing campaigns to our global network.
Then Tom, who is on placement with DriveWorks showed the students a demo project he’s been working on, created using both SOLIDWORKS and DriveWorks functionality.
Next, Amer who is on placement in the technical team demonstrated the capabilities of 3D printing as a manufacturing tool and how DriveWorks and SOLIDWORKS can be used to create products ready for printing.
Finally, Colin delivered a talk on Software Development and the relevance of coding in all aspects of our daily lives, from websites and games to household appliances.
“Fun day that enlightened us on the company whilst helping us with skills for the future.”
From each diverse presentation, the students learnt about the variety of roles and skillsets required in a successful digital company. It also gave them a further understanding of the importance of teamwork and communication within a digital company and how we all work together to achieve one goal; to create innovative and exciting software.
“My day was interesting and enjoyable learning about the various different parts that help to make a software design company successful.”
With this new wealth of knowledge, the students got to work on their final presentations.
Working together to not only design an innovative product, but think about how they would market their product in a way that sets it out from the crowd and considering any limitations of taking the product to market.
“I enjoyed the making of a product the most and meeting different people from different areas of the company, it was useful to then allow me to get an insight into each role.”
We saw eco-friendly toothbrushes, designed to be suitable for everyone; from children to adults, to those with disabilities such as blindness and hearing problems.
There was also another eco-friendly design, a reusable water bottle that could be fully customised and avaliable in a variety of sustainable materials.
It wasn’t all work however, as the students had the opportunity for some downtime in our dedicated rec room, playing pool, video games and of course meeting Ruby!
The day was a great success and the feedback from all the students reflected this. Having worked with this inspiring group of students, we’re excited to see the future of digital!
“My day was very eventful, I really enjoyed the activities that we were given, and I would love to visit again.”
Wanting to pursue a career in digital?
We’re always on the lookout for talented people to join our team.
Visit our Careers Page to learn more about the opportunities avaliable at DriveWorks.