INDUSTRY WATCH
WE WERE DOING REAL
THINGS, DESIGNING
REAL PROCESSES.
I
t is no secret that the burgeoning
data centre industry is facing a
skills shortage. As much of the
current workforce edges towards
retirement, the industry is not proving a
career of choice among young engineers
and technicians. However, three recent
graduates are hoping to inspire other
young people by sharing their data
centre journey so far. We hear from three
graduates who tell us more.
Aminah Hussain, James Green (BSc
Computer Studies) and Rebecca Willis
(BEng) graduated in the summer of
2019. They were offered three-month
internships with a data centre start-up
based in Lincoln and went into their
final exams knowing that there was a
potential career waiting for them.
In February 2019, they attended ‘insight’
afternoons hosted by the company.
These included a site tour during the
construction of its debut data centre.
Although Rebecca previously had no
idea about the data centre industry, she
applied to the company’s internship
programme because of its focus on
sustainability as well as its family feel.
The concern with sustainability was
important to all three graduates and
they also report being encouraged by
the enthusiastic endorsement of fellow
University of Lincoln graduate, Kieran
Brown, who had been offered a full-
time position with the same company
following the completion of his internship
just months earlier.
Having previously completed an IT
apprenticeship, Green was already
working part-time in the university’s IT
department at the time of application.
He was therefore no stranger to the
role of data centres in everyday life.
“I love the tech behind it and the way
in which everything works together.
www.intelligentcio.com
Servers and DCs have always interested
me,” said Green. Speaking of the
recruitment process, they explained that
the company arranged a visit to DCW
London 2019 prior to the selection day.
This was an opportunity to learn more
about the industry, including meeting
manufacturers and industry consultants.
Prior to starting their internships, they
also had the opportunity to attend
factory assessment testing and a unique
training experience with immersed
cooling manufacturer, Asperitas.
All of the graduates recognise what
a unique opportunity they had
experiencing the final phases of
construction. In addition to a range of
CPD courses to bring them up to speed
with health and safety and other issues,
they benefitted from manufacturer
training covering UPSs and free-cooling
chillers, along with different types
of cooling solutions. This took place
alongside supplier training concerning
the installed leak, fire detection and
building management systems (BMS).
Reflecting on the internship, they
described it as both insightful and not
what they anticipated based on friends’
experiences in other data centres or other
industries. “I expected to be pigeonholed
in our own areas and not do anything
other than fix servers or look at a
computer,” said Green.
“We were doing real things, designing real
processes. For example, none of us knew
what IST was, but within two months we
were project planning and executing IST
with supervision,” said Willis.
“I never expected it to be so real, so
soon,” said Hussain.
“To have the authority to be planning
things around the plant room and
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