Completing a tailor-made engineering apprenticeship, has propelled Blake Neville into a Design Engineer role that suits both his practical nature and desire to continue learning.
As a Design Engineer, Blake designs practical solutions to support the engineering contracts run by our Design, Integration and Test team based at Waterlooville. A typical scenario might see Blake creating 2D or 3D design drawings for a mechanical component, fabricating the component with a 3D printer and then testing the component with the team. These components could be connectors or cables, used as part of the General Purpose Support Equipment test sets which our team is well known for.
“When an opportunity arose on another Serco contract, this supportive environment encouraged me to take on a completely different role during my apprenticeship. I transferred to TCS Oakhanger as a Shift Operator. In addition to completing my apprenticeship, I qualified to operate the radar onsite, and then drive satellites.
The skills I acquired during my apprenticeship, and the networks I built within Serco, enabled me to succeed in this Design Engineer role. Many of our engineers have worked on this kit for years, so I find it useful to get their input to help design the best solutions. It helps to check if options I’m proposing are realistic and if the end result is going to make their lives easier.
As part of furthering my skill development, I’m completing an engineering degree at Portsmouth University, and much like my apprenticeship, I feel like my degree has been directly relevant to my day job.”
Apprenticeships are an essential rung on the ladder of opportunity, enabling people to ‘earn while you learn’, and ultimately build skills and knowledge into a rewarding career. We’re #SercoAndProud to offer a range of apprenticeships across our Defence business, from electrical engineering to degree apprenticeships.