Nick Heaney told me he'd had the "time of his life" When he shared his experience working for Bricsys as a student intern this summer. He learned how to use CAD, whilst enjoying the idyllic city of Ghent and socializing with other interns from around the world.
Nick's student intern experience
Nick is in his final year, studying Structural Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. As luck would have it, he arrived on the week we were holding a training session for our offices around the world. This meant he could learn the software with others.
During the 2 months he was here he worked creating training content for the Help Center and building a BIM model that we will be using for the 2019 Bricsys conference.
He thought that it was great to be able to learn CAD whilst working here, an invaluable skill that he can take with him to his final year at university. He explained that CAD isn't something his university course puts a great deal of emphasis on as they focus more on the theoretical side of structural engineering. Which means when he applies for jobs after university his new skills might give him an edge on his fellow students.
How did you find out about the internship?
"I found the internship through IAESTE"
IAESTE (International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience) is a global organization that helps students in scientific and technical studies to find an internship abroad. It also arranges social events and helps them with their accommodation during their internship.
He hosted his own Scottish evening for the other interns with battered mars bars. He admitted that this is a bit of a joke amongst his fellow Scots, although this might have been a little lost with the other interns. He also got the opportunity to attend a Ghana evening and an Iranian evening.
What advice would you give to other students doing an internship?
"Don't be nervous and talk to as many people as possible!"
Nick tells me when he first started he was nervous. He'd never had an office job before and he felt that he was 'useless at CAD'. It turns out he had nothing to worry about. He actually found BricsCAD BIM easier to use than traditional 2D drafting.
Nick's fellow interns enjoying a traditional Scottish breakfast at the Scottish evening.
What do you think of BricsCAD?
"I didn't realize how much you could do with the software. I knew there was 2D and 3D CAD, but I didn't realize that there was this whole new BIM element and how powerful it was...It's quite exciting."
He found BricsCAD BIM far more 'intuitive' than "traditional" 2D drafting and particularly loved QuickDraw. In the future he imagines that CAD will be combined with rendering and VR to allow people to truly visualize a whole building without laying a single brick.
What do you think of Belgium?
"I arrived in Belgium and I thought -- yeh, OK it's Belgium it's not famous for being...[long pause]...it's not really that famous for...for much. I kind of fell in love with the country in the few months that I was here. It's probably one of the coolest countries I've been in."
He also got to see the Tour de France Starting in Brussels and made the most of the cheap student railcard, seeing "almost all of the country".
But, he admitted, it would probably be the Belgian people he would miss the most. He finds Belgians very 'down to earth' and 'relaxed'. Even though he didn't speak Dutch, he had no problems living in Ghent.
Nick got the chance to see the Tour de France start in Brussels this year.
How was your student intern experience at Bricsys?
"Everyone is very friendly and happy to talk to you. It's a really easy place to work when everyone is so good together. I think it's a really good team. I think that's going to be hard for my next job, finding another office like it. It's been a really great experience."
Thank you Nick
From everyone here at Bricsys: thank you Nick for all your hard work. I had an absolute blast working with him, he's got a great sense of humor and got stuck into the job straight away. We wish him all the best in his final year at university and if he ever wants a job, he knows where to find us!
Interested in working for Bricsys?
Why not visit our careers page and see our current vacancies? We're always happy to accept speculative applications from both students and professionals. While you're waiting why not practice BricsCAD with a free academic license?
