Being ‘right first time’ is a prerequisite for achieving excellence in an industry where a company’s reputation is only as good as the quality and results of their latest work.

Alexandru Botu

Alexandru (Alex) Botu is a third-year undergraduate in the Department of Engineering. Last summer for his industrial placement, he was assigned to the quality management team at engineering consultancy Costain and put on the London Power Tunnels Project. This scheme to overhaul and rewire London is run by the National Grid and seeks to meet rising demand and increase London’s access to renewable energy in the future. The aim of the project is to dig deep underground tunnels throughout the city to connect power supplies to where they are needed.

Serving under the quality manager, Alex learned about commissioning processes and quality systems and played a role in resolving nonconformities and irregularities. On site visits and inspections, Alex was involved in assessing a diverse set of areas, inspecting and evaluating system performance in accordance to operating and maintenance specifications.

In addition to quality management, Alex performed mechanical engineering tasks. He was heavily involved in the design of tunnel and shaft ventilation systems as well as taking part in tunnel boring machine operations. Further, Alex took initiative in creating a London Power Tunnels ‘tracker’ that provided weekly updates on inspection test plans and gave indications about the quality of input.

“Enforcing effective quality principles can mean the difference between a bonus or a loss; success or failure,” Alex said. “Being ‘right first time’ is a prerequisite for achieving excellence in an industry where a company’s reputation is only as good as the quality and results of their latest work.”

“I was extremely lucky to be under the guidance of people who knew very well what they were doing and inspire me towards best practice,” Alex said. He considers that his time on the Project “has enormously benefited me in terms of gaining valuable real-life experience both in terms of technical insight and working relationships.”

If you are a large or small company, and you think you can find some useful work or a project for one of our undergraduate students, please contact our Industrial Placements Team.