10 Jan Dawson Shanahan welcomes Swedish students
Dawson Shanahan has enjoyed a long relationship of over 40 years with Swedish car giant, Volvo. And now that relationship extends to a swathe of enthusiastic university students, visiting the UK from Sweden, who came to see first-hand some of the vast capabilities in which we excel from component design for cold forming to CNC machine programming.
As we celebrate our 75th anniversary in engineering, the senior management team had a chuckle that they had well over 150 years’ experience combined, but there was no better way to end another successful year than inspire the next generation of engineers.
The team gave a warm welcome to the students who were visiting from Lund University, one of the top 100 universities in the world, where we hosted a behind the scenes tour and presentations on engineering applications to provide an educational and engaging experience.
Leading the students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Division of Production and Materials Engineering was Christina Windmark who commented: “This is a great opportunity for the students who are in their last year of study and their main field is industrial and manufacturing engineering with special attention to metal cutting and material science. The aim is to show the students interesting manufacturing techniques and some examples of how companies work in the UK and it’s been a resounding success.”
Whilst the media talks of a shortage of engineers and the lack of women in the engineering sector, we were visited by a mix of both male and female students. They were excited to not only test their theoretical knowledge but grasp the opportunity to really see the impact that engineering can have in every day industry.
The visit started with an introduction provided by our senior team and an overview of what we do, including how we provide specialised, custom engineered solutions for customers all around the world. This was then followed by a factory tour, which was accompanied with an animated discussion between the students and engineering staff.
The experience was a great learning curve for both students and staff, as it allowed the students to see engineering through a theoretical and practical perspective. They were also allowed an insight into the business side of engineering, with the senior staff having a wealth of experience and advice to share.
The trip also helped us to take inspiration and ideas for our ongoing work in STEM education and our own successful apprenticeship scheme. Additionally, the trip reflected the ethos that we not put only value in ourselves but also our machinery and products.
The Lund students visit was a resounding success for all involved. Being able to see the theory in practise was a hugely impactful as they had opportunity to ask questions and learn in a professional specialist environment.