Our vacation students wrapped up their six week placement with a celebratory afternoon tea last Thursday.
Trent Kennedy Smith, Hannah Johnson, Michelle Curro, Justin Scott, Drew Mahaffrey and Aditya Tiwarir discussed their expectations going into the program, the tasks they completed, what they learnt and the people they wanted to thank for their experience.
The training program helped the student engineers from UWA, Curtin University and Murdoch University with their professional development, whilst providing Horizon Power with fresh eyes and innovative ideas.
General Manager Power System Services Laurie Curro, described the program as win-win for all involved.
The students are the first group to participate in the internship roles which saw them work on a variety of projects in Consumer Energy and PSS.
Many of the interns were under the impression they would be spending their days fetching coffee and doing administration duties.
The group were surprised at how quickly they began to apply their theoretical understanding of engineering concepts on reports, research and design. They also learnt the importance of time management, networking and professional written and verbal communication skills.
In addition, Trent, Hannah, Michelle, Justin, Drew and Aditya had to quickly familiarise themselves with Horizon Power lingo and spent many hours going through training manuals, induction videos and asking plenty of questions.
The highlight for most of them was the visits to the regions. For many of the students, this was their first time seeing a power station in real life, which provided them with a newfound respect for the symbols and diagrams they had studied for so many years.
They praised the “well-rounded” program for opening their eyes, making them excited about the changing industry and giving them the opportunity to work with and under some “intelligent individuals”.
Michelle said that during her placement she learnt a lot about herself and admitted she found the few months at Horizon Power more educational than the years she spent at university.
All six students thanked Horizon Power and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia (CCI) for their 'Graduates@CCI' Power Engineering Training Program.