Meet our apprentices National Apprentice Week 2023

Amy began her engineering career when she was ten-years-old. While in primary school  she placed second in a national engineering contest and knew she’d found her calling. 

Over the past five years, she has worked across multiple departments - Typhoon In Service Support and Avionics, Tornado Fast Jet Support, Tempest Structures, and the F-35 Fuel team - before landing a role within her dream department, Tempest Concept Design, for the final two years of the program. 

This is the final year of my apprenticeship. Having had the opportunity to work in different functions has helped me gain a deep knowledge of the aircrafts while learning how the system works as a whole."

On a daily basis she works on a Computer Aided Design (CAD) software system, learning how to ‘draw’ aircraft from first principles while finding innovative ways to package all of the features.

"The broad range of roles on offer and the encouagement I've received to explore them is one of the best things about working for BAE Systems.”

Umair's current role sees him working within the US Programmes project management office based out of Samlesbury. 

His role supports a major F-35 contract, ensuring project deliverables are met, and ensures the business is meeting customer expectations on one of the world’s largest defence projects.

This is my third placement since starting my apprenticeships. In my first year, I worked on the UK Hawk programme team and in my second, I worked in the project management team on the Typhoon aircraft. Moving to a new role each year is really giving me great experience and a wider understanding of the business."

Growing up locally in Blackburn, Umair attended Tauheedul Islam Boys High School before moving on to Cardinal Newman College in Preston. It was there that he discovered BAE Systems and the degree apprenticeships on offer. After taking a weeks work experience at BAE Systems Samlesbury site he realised the Company was the perfect place for him. 

"The best part about working at BAE Systems is the team dynamic. There is a strong team ethic; everyone is willing to support you.”

After initially looking to join the RAF, Molly unfortunately had to rethink her career aspirations due to an old knee injury preventing her from progressing further with her application. However it was her passion and interest in the RAF and aircraft which led her to explore BAE Systems early careers opportunities, and she soon found the perfect one for her. 

I was never interested in going to university. I just knew I wanted a job that was hands on and this one stood out to me. I didn’t like the idea of getting myself into debt and I wanted to have a good career without having to go to university.

Molly sites the hands-on part of working on the aircraft as being a great experience and one of the aspects she enjoys the most. In future, she’d like to explore opportunities in management or teaching positions where she can share her knowledge. 

"I'm incredibly proud to do what I do. This was my second attempt at applying as I was unsuccessful the first time. When I told my mum my full job title recently, the smile on her face warmed my heart – she was really proud!"

Nathan wanted to do an apprenticeship, because he believes that in engineering practical experience is one of the most valued skills, and if he’d have gone to university he wouldn’t be getting the invaluable practical experience he is getting now.

In his current placement, Nathan supports the Typhoon simulator, used to train pilots before they go on to the real aircraft.

"It is fascinating. As a software engineer, I can work on every subsystem in the aircraft. One week I could be working on the flight control system, the next on the power systems. I use a wide variety of programming languages and tools, including Ada (my favourite), C, C++ and FORTRAN."

Nathan’s passion for engineering started young.

I used to love experimenting with electronics and making things when I was little. When I started playing with computers, I realised I could make anything without any real consequences or cost. There is a huge amount of resources available on the internet so anyone can learn anything. Software is also cool because it is used in every engineering ‘discipline’."

“The best bit of the role is that we get to work on real jets! It is incredible that as a first year software apprentice I was able to work on airborne software. I am amazed that my code could someday be used by pilots in flight.”

After earning a BTEC in Computer Science and traveling to the United States for a summer, Jack first landed at BAE Systems via the Prince’s Trust’s Movement to Work Programme spending six months working as a cleaner at Samlesbury. From there Jack secured his place on the Craft Apprenticeship programme where he's now in his second year.

I always knew I wanted to work for BAE Systems, but initially I didn't really know doing what. However I knew I had an interest in maths and after exploring the option saw the Craft Apprenticeship and knew it was the perfect fit for me."

On busy days, Jack can be found working alongside one of the skilled employees putting together one of the world’s leading combat aircraft. He uses quieter periods to improve and refresh the skills he needs for the role with online training programmes.

"The people are the best part of my experience so far. It's a really friendly and welcoming environment with lots of opportunities to work alongside more experienced colleagues. Many of the people I work alongside in manufacturing and engineering teams are former apprentices themselves and it really shows in how they treat me and take an interest in my development."