Middlesbrough College student's work placement with Sofia team

Engineering student Maisy takes up construction apprenticeship following placement

Having studied different types of engineering at Middlesbrough College, it was the final year of Construction and the Building Work Environment that prompted 20-year-old Maisy Marcuzzi to contact Sofia for a placement at the onshore converter station site.

During the day-a-week, five week placement at Sofia's onshore converter station site, Maisy said she got to see from a first-hand perspective the work she had been writing about in her Higher National Certificate (HNC) assignments.

"I learnt the basic protocols of onsite safety, and how drawing layouts serves a major role in being able to produce real life civil construction work, as any mistakes could risk future problems that can be very costly to repair," she said.

Maisy was always interested in engineering although not certain which type of engineering, so her four years at College helped her try different disciplines - mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering on a Btech to gain her A-levels, then finally construction and the built working environment to gain her HNC.

She took the initiative to contact the Sofia's onshore converter station site manager Matthew Archer, who was able to offer her the placement at the Teesside site and provide guidance throughout.

"I really enjoyed my time spent on the site, it opened my eyes a lot and allowed me to see how much work is put into an amazing project like Sofia, and it has pushed me to look for an apprenticeship in civil engineering."

Since completing the placement, Maisy has been offered an Onsite Manager Apprenticeship with Sofia supplier Seymour Civil Engineering Contractors, so she will spend four days a week on site and a day a week at Teesside University for the coming four years.

"I was always told by my school that I would not go very far, but I am ready to prove those who didn't believe in me wrong, and that anyone can achieve what they want, if they put their mind to it."

The Sofia team wishes Maisy well in her future ambitions for further studies and eventually to become: "CEO of a world leading renewable energy company, setting up renewables projects while contributing to achieving Net Zero and reducing carbon footprints, as it is so important that to renew and restore the earth."

August 2023