We are delighted to announce that our former apprentice, Rachael Buchan, is now Equalizer’s first Trainee Design Engineer.
On completion of her Modern Apprenticeship in Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering in 2016 and her Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Engineering Practice earlier this year, Rachael expressed an interest in learning more about the design process and her hopes of one day becoming a design engineer. With this in mind, the new Trainee Design Engineer role was created.
Rachael is currently attending a National Certificate (NC) Mechanical Engineering infill course working towards her HNC Mechanical Engineering, this requires one and a half days release to college. Since starting her new role with the company, she now spends one and a half days with our in-house engineering team and the remainder of the week in the workshop. On her days based in the engineering department, Rachael is being introduced to some of the basics of design engineering such as:
- CAD Modelling
- Drawing
- The Fundamentals of the Design Process
- In-House Testing
Rachael will gradually increase her hours within the engineering department as her studies progress from HNC to HND.
Our Bench Technician, Jake Ritchie, has worked for Equalizer since 2014 and he too has completed his Level 3 Modern Apprenticeship in Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering (Fitting and Assembly). In order to achieve this, Jake completed his NC in Electrical Engineering and SVQ Level 3 Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering (Fitting and Assembly). We are pleased to say that earlier this year Jake also completed his HNC in Engineering Practice. Jake is now attending an NC Mechanical Engineering infill course one day a week at North East Scotland College (NESCol) working towards his HNC in Mechanical Engineering. He hopes to then move onto his Higher National Diploma (HND) in Mechanical Engineering.
Drew Masson, our new Apprentice Bench Technician, started with Equalizer in August this year. Prior to joining Equalizer, Drew had achieved his SVQ 2 Performing Engineering Operations and his National Certificate (NC) in Mechanical Maintenance. He is now working on his two year HNC in Engineering Practice with one day a week at college. Following in the footsteps of Rachael and Jake, he will begin his SVQ Level 3 Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering (Fitting and Assembly) in the summer of 2018, he will require this alongside his SVQ 2 and NC to complete his Modern Apprenticeship (MA).