For the past two months, C-bed has had two Engineering interns under their wings on board Wind Innovation.
For young maritime students it can be a real struggle to find relevant internships required to complete their bachelor project. It is often up to the students themselves to find a workplace where they can supplement their theoretical knowledge with practical experience if they want a career in the maritime industry.
“We gladly open the doors to the engine rooms and provide this opportunity to young students interested in the maritime industry. It is important for C-bed to do our part in securing our industry a future highly-skilled workforce,” says Claus Andersen, Technical Director at C-bed A/S.
Getting that crucial practical experience
Bue Mathiasen and Frederik Søndergaard are students at the School of Marine Engineering in respectively Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark. They both learned about the opportunity of an internship at C-bed by actively contacting different companies in the industry. While they both stress the importance of adding practical experience to their education, they highlight different aspects of their internship as the most important learning experience to take home.
“At school, we do a lot of theoretical work, looking at technical drawings and making calculations, but practical experience is limited. Therefore, it is completely different to work on a large vessel like the Wind Innovation with all kinds of specialised tools made for just one component such as for example hydraulics,“ says Bue Mathiasen.
For Frederik Søndergaard, it is the human factor on board a vessel that has made the largest impression. “I think that the most important part of my internship has been to work with so many different people having other cultural backgrounds than myself”.
Dream of an international career
Bue and Frederik both graduate in January 2019 and highlight a dream of working at sea for an international company. Also, they stress the importance of continuing to learn, develop and build on their experience within their field.
“The education opens so many doors, but it is the profession as an Engineer that really has my interest. And I am urging other student to take this opportunity of going to sea,” Bue Mathiasen concludes.
Best of luck on graduating and smooth sailing ahead!