Member Article

Businesses say bonjour to post-grads

Three major Sunderland manufacturing businesses and the University have opened their doors to six French postgraduates, as part of a work experience visit arranged with the city’s twin town, Saint-Nazaire.

Calsonic Kansei, Lear and Unipres, together with the University of Sunderland’s Institute for Automotive and Manufacturing Advanced Practice (AMAP), have welcomed Adrien Servant, Alrick Barbarin, Jérome Droumaguet, Romain Bussett, Colin Schellenbaum and Julien Guinhut to their respective teams. The Saint-Nazaire students, all postgraduates from one of France’s leading engineering schools, are in their final weeks of a three-month industrial placement, where they have been carrying out research projects and learning more about their profession.

The summer programme, now in its eighth year, offers three months of high-quality work placements for engineering students, providing them with experience in the kind of industries they will be seeking to enter after graduation as well as the chance to live and work in the UK.

Lear Corporation and Unipres (UK) Limited have both taken part in the programme before, as have AMAP, while 2016 marks the first year that Calsonic Kansei has taken part.

John Barnett, operations director at Calsonic Kansei, said: “We are delighted to have signed up to this initiative and to open our doors to graduates from our twin town, Saint-Nazaire.

“Sunderland is a leading light on a national and international stage in automotive manufacturing, and we have a great deal to share with the world. It’s also really helpful as a global company to be able to draw on expertise from students like these.”

During their time in Sunderland, the six students have worked on a number of research and design projects, sharing their knowledge and expertise with the businesses they are spending time with.

Another student from Saint-Nazaire is also spending the summer in Sunderland, working at The Roker Hotel to learn more about the hospitality industry in the UK.

Sunderland and Saint-Nazaire, a major port and shipbuilding centre on France’s Atlantic coast, have been twinned since 1953.

Sunderland’s Mayor, Councillor Alan Emerson, said that the work placement programme had proven to be a real success over the years.

He said: “We have a longstanding relationship with Saint-Nazaire, and we are as keen now to nurture it as we were in 1953. Our partnership has evolved over the decades and continues to be of great value to both our communities. Recent projects have involved schools, the university, the College as well as businesses such as these.

“To be able to showcase the great work of some of the city’s finest businesses is tremendous, and we know that they are always eager to learn from international partners. It’s great to see them benefitting from the students’ knowledge and research.”

Romain Bussett, 23, who has spent his time in Sunderland at Calsonic Kansei, said: “Sunderland is really nice and I feel like I have learnt a lot during my time here.

“I have discovered things I did not expect to by completing a project about reduction of energy consumption in the automotive sector, and have taken a great deal of extra knowledge on board. I now know that when I get back to France and enter industry, I would love to work as part of a team, and perhaps manage a team in the future.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jess Ramsey .