Department of Engineering and Design

Professional placements

For students, a placement can help focus their mind on the sort of career they may be interested in, provide valuable work experience, and give an advantage in the job market. Employers benefit from having access to enthusiastic new recruits that bring energy and innovative ideas to the workplace.

Placements available are screened by experienced Sussex supervisors to ensure that we only recommend those placements offering suitable training and experience. Students apply for them competitively just as they would for a normal job, except that the applications are submitted through the Sandwich Year Placement Tutor. Students must draw up a curriculum vitae (CV), obtain references from their tutor(s) and be prepared for a competitive interview.

Students receive extensive guidance from the Careers and Employability Centre and their tutor(s) here at Sussex.

A small number of students wish to arrange their own placements, sometimes abroad. All such placements require the approval of the Sandwich Year Placement Tutor at Sussex. This approval will be granted provided that the Tutor is satisfied that the proposed placement will provide suitable training and skills development.  

Twice during each placement, an academic supervisor, appointed by the University, visits the students. The first visit is usually two to three months after starting the placement and the second visit usually about eight to ten months after that. The first visit is to ensure that the student has settled in and that the employer is satisfied with the work being done. The academic supervisor will make certain that students are being adequately supervised, review project notebooks/portfolio and discuss the progress being made with the project and agree a format for the report.

If any difficulties should arise, the academic supervisor acts as an intermediary and so may visit more than twice. The second visit is to ensure that the placement is continuing on a satisfactory basis to both the student and employer and to discuss the project report. The academic supervisor outlines the details of the final report and assessment (especially if any degree of confidentiality of the work is required). During this visit (or earlier) the academic supervisor discusses details of the final year courses including project selections and ensure that students make their appropriate choices at the right time. Students are expected to keep in fairly regular contact with academic supervisors or the University throughout the placement year by phone and/or email.

Previous professional placements

  • Cold Chain Instruments Ltd, Worthing
  • Elekta Ltd, Crawley
  • Deltex Medical Ltd, Chichester
  • Hanson LtdAlfreton, Nottinghamshire
  • Halcrow, London
  • IMRA Europe S.A.S., Falmer
  • Marshall Tufflex Ltd, St Leonards, Hastings
  • Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Horsham
  • Robert Bosch Ltd, Denham, Middlesex
  • Russell Laboratories, Pulborough, W Sussex
  • Varian Medical Systems, Crawley