2 Aug 2019
Success for placement students at the Pirelli UK Student Awards
A group of students from Loughborough University were recognised for their efforts at the 2019 Pirelli UK Student Awards.
Barney Gardner, from Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering was announced as the overall winner at the awards, which were held to acknowledge the hard work of talented individuals that have undertaken a placement year within the organisation.
His placement year was based in MIRS (modular integrated robotised system) engineering. MIRS is a fully automated and robotic method used throughout the entire production cycle of producing tyres, from compounding to the finished product.
All of the students were initially nominated by their managers and were then required to complete a presentation in front of the panel.
Selecting the winner was based on a number of areas, including their business understanding, agility with numbers, attitude, communication skills, innovation and risk taking.
Speaking about his experience, Barney said: “I came into MIRS pretty fresh in terms of engineering and it was quite a learning curve.
“I spent my first couple of months understanding the basics, learning engineering drawings and the technical side of MIRS. My main project was to redesign an application system for one of the components of the tyres. Once it was completed, we produced a part, had it tested on the line and since then it has been running flawlessly.”
Two fellow Loughborough students were also awarded joint second place, alongside Natasha Lewis from Liverpool John Moores University.
Abigail Durrant and Vishal Handa – who both study at Loughborough’s School of Aeronautical, Automotive, Materials and Chemical Engineering - were also praised by the judging panel, which consisted of members from Pirelli’s UK management team, including the Chairman and CEO, HR Director, Commercial Director and Legal Director.
Dominic Sandivasci, Chairman and CEO of Pirelli commented: “Once again we have had a fantastic group of placement students and it was very tough to select the winners.
“They have demonstrated commitment to Pirelli and integrated within their respective teams brilliantly. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the manager statements and seeing all the things these talented young adults have achieved.”