Learn about Thisuri's internship experience and the career development skills she's gained in the professional work environment.
Name: Thisuri Weerasinghe
Location: Victoria
Course & University: Bachelor of Science (Civil Engineering), University of Melbourne
Graduation: 2023 (expected)
- What types of things were you involved with during your internship?
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Preparing project documentation like scope and feasibility documents, risk registers, scope matrices, payment applications etc. Checking drawings and preparing site markups. Using AutoCAD to adjust drawings and set-up title blocks. Participate in meetings to review project designs and discuss project progress.
- What opportunities has your internship given you?
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Introduced me to the defence sector and gave me an opportunity to work outside of my academic discipline.
- What advantages has completing the internship given you?
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Use of software: AutoCAD, Bluebeam Technical knowledge: how to compile project documents and apply industry standards Industrial knowledge: Other companies involved in defence and major projects taking place within the sector and networking opportunities.
- What was the biggest challenge you faced during your internship?
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After the first week of the internship, we had to move to remote work overnight due to a snap lockdown.
- What was the main thing that you learnt during your internship that you’ve since been able to apply to your professional life/studies?
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Attention to detail when putting together formal documents of any nature. Eg: project documents, university assignments, and CVs.
- What are the ways Engineers Australia helped you throughout the internship process?
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Being part of the student ambassador program helped me develop my network. When I was applying for this internship, an Engineers Australia (EA) staff member wrote a reference letter for me, which really helped. And through my involvement with Engineers Australia, I had met a Young Engineers Australia (YEA) member who had previously worked at Lucid,
and they helped me through the recruitment stage as well.
