UWTSD film student works as intern for high growth tech firm
14.04.2022
Lynn Davies, Technical Director of POET Systems in Bridgend, recently visited UWTSD’s SA1 Swansea Waterfront Campus. Lynn is an industry expert on the Welsh Government funded SMART Digital Accelerator project. The project, managed by UWTSD, seeks to support manufacturers in the adoption of new technology that boosts their productivity and bottom line performance. The visit included a tour of the Festo Cyber Physical Laboratory and Lynn gave a live demonstration of the POET software, a bespoke cloud-based system that is designed to increase the productivity and profit of manufacturers. Daniel Ralph, a third year Film & TV student at UWTSD, is undertaking an internship with POET. Daniel accompanied Lynn on the visit and made a short film about it. Whilst he was here, we asked him about his internship.
The course
I’m studying a Film & TV Degree at UWTSD and have really enjoyed the level of freedom that the course has offered me to explore my interests. It is also very helpful that I can engage in work directly with industry to help me in my future career, as part of my assignments.
Being an intern
I took on the internship with the POET team as I have prior experience in engineering at GCSE level. I knew I would be able to combine this previous knowledge with my degree to produce the best product for POET and my assignment.
What I have been doing
I’ve been working with Lynn to produce a series of walkthroughs of the POET software, as well as videos for YouTube on Continuous improvement and Productivity. Plus I have made a short film documenting our visit to UWTSD. You can watch it here.
New skills
During my time with the POET team, I have expanded my knowledge of manufacturing and gained skills in different styles of media production that I previously haven’t had the opportunity to work on, such as technical walkthroughs.
Other experience
Outside of my studies, I have worked with clients such as Those Damn Crows to produce a promo video for their collaboration beer with Dog's Window Brewery. As well as this, I have worked with Bridgend College to produce a series of 360-degree tours for their careers department. These took students into work environments they would otherwise not be able to go into.
All of this was produced through my business Blue Bench Media, winner of the ‘Bridgend Business Forum 2019 Student Business of the Year’ award.
Lynn Davies, POET, says, “Daniel has good business intelligence and ensures his skills are commercially viable in the career he has chosen. He has been a real asset to our organisation, and he has helped us produce some engaging content and brought us different skills to complement our product. His blend of engineering and film knowledge is a very unusual but strong combination. I work with UWTSD on their SMART Digital Accelerator and MADE Cymru projects, so this has been another successful collaboration for POET and the University.”
Timi O’Neill, Programme Director for BA Film & TV at UWTSD said, “I’ve always been impressed with Daniel’s work. He is both a commercially successful videographer and an entrepreneur. We encourage students to think entrepreneurially about their studies and offer a wide range of support to help them with this. Our intern programme is a good example of this.”
Further Information
Rebecca Davies
Swyddog Gweithredol Cysylltiadau â’r Wasg a’r Cyfryngau
Executive Press and Media Relations Officer
Cyfathrebu Corfforaethol a Chysylltiadau Cyhoeddus
Corporate Communications and PR
Mobile: 07384 467071
Email: Rebecca.Davies@uwtsd.ac.uk
