Euan Fraser

Blogging Off...

Having finally reached home and got my body clock back onto Scottish time I feel I am in a good position to look back at this experience as a whole. 

The past 9 weeks has definitely been one of the most novel and alien experiences of my life and has definitely changed me as a person.  I am far more confident in myself and my ability to communicate and meet new people. 

I will look back on my placement experience with Rolls-Royce with slightly mixed emotions.  Individually I have benefitted from the process and the exposure to life in industry.  By the final few weeks I began to feel comfortable in the office and manufacturing environment and no longer felt like I should have been outside helping the gardeners cut the grass and tidy up the flowerbeds.  So from that point of view it has been very helpful and will stand me in good stead for the future.  However in the context of the aims of the SaltireFoundation I can’t help but feel there has been a bit of a missed opportunity here.  The projects I was doing were not always particularly challenging or compelling and I did feel that on the whole they really stretched me or improved my skills as much as they could have.  That said I in no way regret the process and I am extremely thankful to the SaltireFoundation for the opportunity to work for such a famous company. 

Having been involved with the SaltireFoundation for a few months now I can honestly say that I think it is a great organisation with admirable and exciting ambitions. I personally would be willing to do everything I can to help make sure that these aims are met in the future.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at the SaltireFoundation for giving me the great opportunity to be part of such a forward looking organisation which I think will undoubtedly help Scotland in the future. 

Rolling on out...

This was my final week at Rolls-Royce.  Due to the Labor Day holiday (still not quite sure how Labor day works, the people who I thought most needed a day off most still seemed to be working) I only had 4 days to finish off my project.  By Thursday I had completed all I could.  Unfortunately the project as a whole could not be finished as the demands on the CMM programmer were too great.  Overall I was pretty happy to know that I had done all I could and had completed what was in my hands on schedule and accurately.  In terms of actually getting programs written, when I left 4 out of the 19 had been completed, 3 tested and a further 2 were in progress.  This represented a fairly good return for my efforts and before I left I was able to get a commitment from Mike Green (who owns the CMM’s) to complete the remaining programs in a specified time frame. 

That same Thursday morning I got a bit of a bombshell dropped on me, I was expected to do a 30 minute exit presentation the next day!  Apparently this is standard for all exiting interns and is usually organised by the H.R. department, but due to the fact I had not got my placement through the conventional channels i had gotten lost in the system somewhere.  Luckily I quite like to work under pressure and talk at length about myself, so this wasn’t really all that bad news!  A few notes later and a bit of time on PowerPoint and I had an exit presentation! 

On my last day I had a few loose ends to tie up and people to see.  This began with my PDR (Personal Development Review) designed to evaluate how I had fared in attempting to reach the goals set for me at the start of my internship.  Unfortunately my supervisors had never actually gotten around to formally setting my goals in the first few weeks, so it ended up being a general evaluation.  Luckily this went pretty well and all of the comments were very positive.  At lunch time my supervisors and a few co-workers went out to lunch, at what is apparently David Letterman’s favourite restaurant.  It is definitely a unique place!  My boss had been going there since the early 90’s and apparently a lot of the same waitresses are still there!  Despite its slight aesthetic deficiencies the food was brilliant and there was a great atmosphere, it’s only a shame I found out about it on the last day!

After lunch I had arranged a meeting with all the personnel associated with my project.  The purpose of this was to make sure that everyone knew what stage the project was at and what was still left to be done.  I had compiled folders of information and instructions for those who needed it and explained the situation to all my superiors.  This meeting also served as a way to garner support for the project and get more time with the CMM programmer.  The meeting went very positively and it was nice to know that the department I was working for were the furthest ahead with the product audit system and that I had had a big part in it. 

My final act as a Rolls-Royce intern was to deliver my exit presentation.  Despite my lack of preparation time it actually went pretty well, I managed to get everything across that I wanted to and even managed to get a few laughs.  This seemed like a good way to finish up and meant that I got to say goodbye to everyone who had helped me and taught me so much.  At this point I would like to say thank you in particular to Cindy Appleget, Dave Barnes, Monty King, Tim Childers and Jeff Leonard who all helped to make this experience a good one. 

I will blog again soon with my overall impressions and feelings about the SaltireFoundation process as a whole, so stay tuned!

No Orleans...

Some old dead Scottish poet guy once said ‘the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley’, well I don’t know what the mice had planned this weekend ( I assume eating cheese and generally being wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beasties) but I was planning on going to New Orleans. Unfortunately Hurricane Gustav had other ideas and decided to crash the party. After a few days of checking weather reports and trawling the internet for the latest information I decided that it probably wasn’t going to be a good idea. Especially when I saw the news reports that one million people were evacuating. So, after a few phone calls and a bit of negotiating with American Airlines I finally managed to get my flights changed to go to Austin, Texas instead to catch up with the boys from the Wood Group. After a wee wait at the airport (I think Grant was having some issues with directions!) I finally managed to meet the guys and it was great to hear some Scottish accents and get involved with some proper banter! After a night in Austin we travelled on to San Antonio to see what it had had to offer. I think it’s safe to say that a great weekend was had by all and we were left with some great memories and empty wallets!

Slow news week...

To be honest even though I have been really busy this week there is little new to report.  I have been continuing to complete my project as well and as quickly as possible and am having to work past the same issues of the past few weeks, mostly trying to get time with the CMM programmer.  I will leave you safe in the knowledge that everything is still going pretty well and I am on course to finish up next week, barring disasters!

Chi-town!

Friday saw me and my new friend Ashley take a trip up to the windy city! It is about a 3hr drive from Indy, although it has the potential to feel a lot longer due to the boring and monotonous scenery and perfectly straight roads.  The most interesting part of the journey was all the huge billboards ever more frequently and franticly advertising fireworks.  Apparently due to the fact that the sale of fireworks is illegal in Illinois many people will stock up before they enter the state.  When it gets to around Independence Day there are even roadside stalls selling pyrotechnics.  On the subject of Independence Day, someone actually asked me the other day if it was celebrated in Scotland!  I replied that even in Scotland public holidays are not set aside to celebrate failure, and that incidentally we thought that the Boston tea party was churlish and unnecessary!

 

After hundreds of miles of flat corn fields we finally reached the city and after passing the famous White Sox stadium the forest of skyscrapers became visible on the left with the unending Lake Michigan on the right.  I could tell right away that I was going to like this city with the contrast between tall buildings and the ocean like lake only adding to my intrigue.  After a short drive through the city we arrived at our destination, Ashley’s friend Esmeralda’s apartment.  Her apartment is in a really cool green yet urban area with everything you could need in walking distance, including a small bar ‘Michaels’ where we had something to eat and watched some ‘football’ on the big screens.

Followers of the blog might be wondering what has happened to my charity works over the past wee while.  Well, worry not, HumanitariEuan has returned!  On Friday we attended a fundraiser event for ‘Good Magazine’, an environmentally themed non-profit magazine, in an old warehouse/antiques shop.  The event lived up to its name and a good night was had by all, but then again with a $20 entrance fee and free food and drink how can you go wrong?  Some blog fans may well point out that the selfless charity acts I have done over the course of my time here have usually involved alcohol in some way, I would like to point out that this is entirely coincidental… honest!

On Saturday we went into downtown Chicago and did all the touristy stuff including going up the sears tower, visiting Millennium Park and navy pier.  Chicago seems like a great city to live in or visit with lots of free events, festivals and interesting places to go, I was really enjoying my time there.  After another fun night out on Saturday a dip in lake Michigan was the perfect way to clear my slightly fuzzy head.  It is a strange experience to walk a few hundred yards from the city streets to a sandy beach, but at the same time really cool.  As everyone debated about going into the ‘cold’ water I dived straight in knowing that it couldn’t possibly be as cold as the north sea!  I was right, it was positively tropical feeling!  After a day at the beach swimming, eating a picnic and playing sports it was time to take the long road back to Indiana. I eventually got back to the apartment at about 10pm very tired but having had a fantastic time and vowing that that would not be the last time I would go to Chicago.