The M-SParc Skills Academy is a programme to support people into industry, by providing them with paid work – with M-SParc acting as the employer and HR – while their placement company gives them additional support and experience to grow their experience within industry in a short space of time.
Also based at M-SParc is Bangor University’s Nuclear Futures Institute (NFI), housing projects THOR – a Thermal Hydraulics Test Loop, and BULLET – a similar loop that looks at experiments with lead. Given the existing collaborations between M-SParc and NFI, including additional space for NFI in the new building currently in planning at the M-SParc site, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for Mikey.
Approaching Dr Walter Villanueva, Lead Academic for THOR and BULLET at the NFI in M-SParc, with the proposal he immediately jumped at the opportunity to offer a paid work placement to a student over the summer; something the NFI are passionate about providing.
The Academy was funded by ARFOR funding through the Welsh Government, which meant that Mikey also had the opportunity for a bespoke Welsh course through Bangor University’s Welsh Course Tutor. For three months, he became an integral part of the NFI team, and it was fantastic to see him with the team at M-SParc.
Mikey said:
Dr Charlotte Baxter, Chief Technician for the NFI, said:
Mikey enjoyed his time so much that he is keen to join the team again next summer, and is looking for opportunities that could allow him to return to live and work on Anglesey, with the NFI team, when he graduates.
Dr Walter Villanueva said:
emily@m-sparc.com
Emily has worked for M-SParc since 2018. Her previous role was at Bangor University, developing Welsh-language standardised tests for language disorders. Emily loves a graph, and would like them even better if they showed the closing of the skills gap in Wales, and a smaller gender pay gap in STEM. She works to achieve this by supporting M-SParc’s Marketing & Events, Outreach and Community work, and STEM & Skills projects.
If you’d like to support this work, or just want to share some stats, get in touch.
tom@m-sparc.com
Tom used to work at the KFC in his hometown of Colwyn Bay before it mysteriously burned down. He then spent several years “on the lam” in East Germany, where he worked as an animator in Berlin. When the wall fell, Tom came home.
He enjoys climbing and hates ice-skating.
