Quintessa welcomes Millie Gibbons from the University of Bath and Patrick Watt from the University of Manchester as they start their placement year with us as part of undergraduate courses in Physics and Mathematics, respectively.
Millie and Patrick will be working with us on a range of mathematical modelling and software development projects over the next 12 months.
Quintessa has a long history of employing university students on placements. Such placements are mutually beneficial; the students gain relevant experience in a professional environment as well insight into the fields in which we work and how mathematics is used in industry. The company's size means that the students can actively participate in a wide range of business activities. For its part, Quintessa benefits from talented individuals wishing to undertake such placements, using the opportunity to progress interesting research and development projects and to capitalise on the value of a fresh outlook. Hosting placement students is part of Quintessa's STEM outreach activities designed to inspire future generations to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects.
In the past, students on placement have made significant contributions to the development of free software downloads, such as Graph Grabber, and to updating our website. Behind the scenes they have been involved in various mathematical modelling initiatives and supporting the testing of Quintessa's software. To date, four placement students have also gone on to become permanent employees following completion of their studies; Neil Chittenden, Rebecca Newson, Louise Bruffell and Josh Nicholas.