Over the last few years, Advanced Research Computing (ARC) has hosted more than ten work experience students, ranging from year 10 pupils to undergraduate students. We’ve found the experience incredibly rewarding, both for the students who take part and for our team.
One of our key aims for offering work experience placements is to encourage more young people to consider careers in High Performance Computing (HPC), an area currently facing a skills shortage, particularly in systems administration. We have received great feedback from students who have spent time with us. Notably, two members of the Beariables team who previously undertook work experience with ARC went on to win a national Cluster Challenge competition and credited their experience with us as an important contributor to their success.
How does it work?
Before each placement begins, we ask students about their main interests. As ARC spans everything from highly technical computing infrastructure to training and outreach, this helps us create a tailored timetable that aligns with their goals. We also incorporate relevant workshops, meetings, and events taking place during the week. Students with a particular interest in the technical side of computing are often given a mini-project to work on, providing valuable hands-on experience while allowing hosts some focused time to progress their own work.
Darryl’s experience
Year 12 student Darryl joined us in June during a particularly busy and exciting week, when we were running the BEAR Challenge. Reflecting on his experience, he said:
“Overall, this placement has given me an introduction to the world of HPCs and data science which I never thought I would see before. Everything I have seen this week from the team meetings to the BEAR challenge has not only inspired me as I plan my next-steps after my A-levels but also given me the view on how a vibrant, collaborative and happy workplace functions.”
Luke’s experience
Another year 12 student, Luke, also joined us during the BEAR Challenge week and quickly found himself tackling a real-world problem-solving exercise:
“As a part of the challenge, participants were given T-shirts, and I was involved in allocating the set sizes to each participant. However, the sizes we were told were not the same as what arrived in the boxes, meaning the team and I had to work fast to reorganise and fix this problem successfully…”
Luke also highlighted the broad range of experiences available during the placement:
“…through doing admin, helping staff, and meeting corporate partners like Lenovo, I have been able to grow my transferable skills.”
Sophie’s experience
Year 10 student Sophie joined us in July and experienced a more typical week in ARC. One of the highlights for her was a workshop delivered by Tim Packwood from IT Innovation:
“My favourite part was the AI workshop that I did with Tim Packwood from IT Innovation, where I learned how important AI is, how it can be used to show its importance, and I also learnt how to create my own agents.”
Reflecting on her placement overall, Sophie said:
“It has been an amazing experience and has helped me gain a greater understanding of what ARC means and what they do to help improve research, and I hope to carry the skills I learnt to my life post GCSEs and College.”
Sophie’s visit also highlighted the benefits that work experience placements bring to ARC. Through supporting her placement, we were able to engage with colleagues from across IT Services and explore innovative ways that AI agents could enhance our support for researchers.
We were really pleased that Darryl, Luke and Sophie all enjoyed their time with us in Advanced Research Computing. If you are interested in doing work experience with ARC, then please get in touch via email (bearinfo@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Subject to team capacity and demand for placements, we may be able to offer you the opportunity to spend a week with us and learn more about the exciting world of research computing.