Andrew Inglis

Name: Andrew Inglis
Title: Surrey Sponsored Undergraduate
Division: Geotechnical
Location: Wetherby
Degree: BEng Civil Engineering, Surrey University

As a whole, my placement year with Keller was a very positive experience.  The fact that I was somewhat thrown in at the deep end from day one meant I had to find my feet pretty quickly.  At times it seemed a bit daunting, especially when things weren’t going quite to plan.  However, it just made me realise that this is the nature of the work, you can never remove the element of unpredictability, you just need to learn to deal with it in the right way, and move forward with as little delay as possible.  This was maybe one of the hardest facts to accept!

One of the other factors that became most apparent over the course of the year, was understanding the relationship on site between the principal contractor, or the client, and sub-contractors like ourselves.  Effective communication was a challenge at times, and in some cases caused difficulties on site both prior and during work. 

The experience I’ve had though is not only as a direct result of Keller’s workings on site, but also in being on site and observing the other works going on around you.  Watching other processes take shape and seeing first hand a variety of different projects.  I began to realise pretty quickly some of the practicalities of site work and management.

The only real downside to the year was the times when I was based in the office, and had little work to be getting on with.  But I also understand that it is dependent on the actual work available at the time, together with the fact that I was only in the office sporadically, which obviously makes it difficult to really get stuck into anything.  Having prior knowledge of some of the theory/design behind some of Keller’s products would have, at times, put me into a better position to oversee the works on site.  But again, there is obviously not a great deal of time to fit all this in over the year!

The travelling was also tough at times, but has actually been a positive experience in itself. 

Overall, I’d say that I had a very eye-opening experience of the construction industry as a whole, and not just of the company itself.  I’ve gained a pretty good grounding in the realities of site work, and would like to think I’ve continued learning over the year to the point where a lot more thought and knowledge goes into my actions on site now than would have at the start of the year.