In this document you will find the goals and reflections that took place before, during, and after my 90h Internship with Robert Allan Ltd. There is also a few photos at the bottom of the document.

With reference to the course goals, employable skills and core competencies, list three specific goals you have for your work experience placement.  (Written BEFORE the internship)

• Think and solve problems – I hope to improve my critical thinking skills in this course and gain more personal responsibility. I tend to look to others fore reassurance when making decisions but hope to move away from that and trust my ability to make good decisions without the verification of my co-workers. I believe this comes with experience and good education, but I believe that I have a bright mind that will be able to adapt quickly to the situation and make a clear decision. 

 

• Work with others – I know that as I am participating in an internship rather than a full-time job, I am going to be briefly exposed to many people in different positions within the workplace. Although our encounters may be brief, I want to be able to connect with those I meet and engage in conversation with them to learn about their positions within the company. I think this will be a good war to learn about the company and the many job opportunities I may encounter in the future. I want to implement myself into their workplace as if I was a full-time employee to see the reality of what working in engineering is like. 

 

• Participate in projects and tasks – I hope to be able to participate in and observe the creation of vessels at Robert Allan. I understand that I do not have nearly the experience or skill that the professionals do but I’d hope to at least be able to observe the process and maybe complete some of my own designs as side projects, just to acclimatize myself to the work environment and the process of designing. 

 

Discuss your growth in each of the three goals listed above. Provide specific evidence of growth and development.  (Written 2 days before the END of the internship)

• Think and solve problems – Throughout this internship, I have been assigned various tasks which involved me working on my own with programs I was not familiar with. This led to a lot of challenges, especially when it came to learning the basics of two new Cad programs. Although I struggled, I was able to work mostly independently to solve problems and complete tasks to the best of my ability. I did my best not to resort to others to solve problem for me but rather to think critically of the situation and do the best I could. By the end of the internship, I have become much more familiar with both BricsCAD and Rhino8 as I can now create small, simple models and understand the basics of the command language. I believe that I became more confident in my own knowledge and ability to do work on my own. 

 

• Work with others – When it came to working with others in Ral, I found it quite easy as everyone in the company had a very welcoming personality and wanted to help where they could. I worked well with Dionne in the Archiving tasks, and with Calder when he was teaching me how to use some of the Cad programs to design mechanical systems. Although I worked with many others such as Tyler, Kevin, Norbert, and Yenna, Dionne and Calder were the two I spent the most time working with. I collaborated well with Dionne by doing half of the task as she did the other half, and through this we became efficient at completing the tedious task of scanning and archiving the drawings dating from 1987 and earlier. We were efficient and found it to be less labour than working individually. Dionne informed me that with my help she felt that the task was moving at approximately 4x the pace it usually takes her to complete. 

 

• Participate in projects and tasks – I have completed a few tasks here at Ral over the short span of my internship. The one with the most visible progress has been archiving the old documents. I have also helped convert cad files to PDF’s and am beginning to create an exhaust stack for a ship; although with my limited skills in Rhino Cad I find this task the most challenging. I feel that I have made a small difference within Ral and have learned a lot in my time here. I understand that it is best that I am not assigned a task with an actual vessel going into production, so I am glad to still be able to help with other tasks that have little risk if something goes wrong, such as the Archives. I am also glad that I had many opportunities to sit in on meetings and have conversations with many bright people that were glad to teach me about their work, such as Kevin. 

 

PHOTOS

 

As you enter the lobby of 400-250 Howe St. (which is open to the public Mon-Fri 9:00-4:00), you are greeted by various models of the ship design by Robert Allan (RAL) in the last few years.

You will also find that many of the ships stand beside plaques and trophies for the many awards they win.

Continuing into the office you will find a long couch that leads your eyes to a wall with one of the original ships design by Robert Allan circa 1930, the Meander. To the left there are portraits of Robert Allan, Robert F. Allan, and the Current Robert G. Allan as well as the drawings for the Meander. This area where the employees can hang out would be called the “Mess” on a ship.

Turning back and continuing past the receptionist we find the kitchen, or “Galley”, with all the food anyone could need, and two of each appliance except the $15000 coffee machine.

This image is of a model of a ship that is used to be tested in a big water basin. UBC used to have a testing facility but it was unfortunately removed.

Finally, the last photo is of my workspace, with all the technology provided.

And a Portrait.