25 June 2012

Rolls-Royce welcomes interns to Bristol

Rolls-Royce has extended its longstanding partnership with RMIT University, welcoming the latest interns to the group's facility in Bristol, England.

Roxley McLennan, Rolls-Royce Vice-President Defence - Australasia, students Branko Bejares and Nathan Snoxall with Will Erith, Head of Rolls-Royce Service Engineering.

Nathan Snoxall and Branko Bejares are undertaking a 10-month program with the global power systems company through the RMIT International Industry Experience and Research Program (RIIERP).

The Bachelor of Engineering (Aerospace Engineering) students, who will be working within the services area of the Rolls-Royce Defence business, have each been assigned to engine programs with strong Australian links.

Mr Snoxall will work on Gnome helicopter engines, which power the Royal Australian Navy's Sea King helicopters, while Mr Bejares will work on the Adour, which powers the Royal Australian Air Force's Hawk trainer aircraft.

Roxley McLennan, Rolls-Royce Vice-President Defence - Australasia, said the company was pleased to welcome the pair as the latest RMIT students to join the internship program.

"During their time in Bristol they will have a fantastic opportunity to develop their engineering and business skills, and we look forward to further strengthening our longstanding relationship with RMIT," he said.

RIIERP Director, Professor Sylvester Abanteriba, said: "Internships such as these are a great way of giving some of our most talented students unique exposure to the skills, culture and processes of one of the world's leading aerospace engineering companies.

"We believe that, as our students gain this valuable knowledge and experience, the benefits will feed into the wider Australian aerospace industry and help it develop a greater level of local capability."

Rolls-Royce and RMIT have been running the internship program for 11 years, with more than 50 interns involved to date.

Mr Bejares said the experience so far had been fascinating.

"I get to work with some of the best minds in the aerospace industry, I deal with air force personnel from all around the world and every day I get to see how a leading edge aerospace organisation functions," he said.

"I feel very privileged to be working with Rolls-Royce and I'm greatly appreciative of RMIT for giving me this opportunity."

Mr Snoxall said he and Mr Bejares were settling into the pace of life at their new workplace and in Bristol.

"There is a lot to take in at the start of the internship - on top of all the technical understanding and information, you need to work out how the workplace functions as well," he said.

"Being placed in a Service Engineering role is providing a vast array of interaction with engineers specialising in many different areas, which personally helps me to develop an understanding of what engineers do in industry.

"Living in the UK has been a great pleasure, aside from the cold! There are so many new and exciting places to see and things to do.

"We are already planning weekend trips around the country and flights over to see Europe. Everything is so much closer over this side of the world."

Rolls-Royce is a world-leading provider of power systems and services for use on land, at sea and in the air, which employs 40,400 skilled people in offices, manufacturing and service facilities in more than 50 countries. More than 11,000 of the company's employees are engineers.