Sky's the limit for Molly after Airbus placement


A Computing student learning to investigate cyber systems at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) has landed high-flying work experience with a placement at Airbus.

Molly Betts, currently in the third year of a BSc in Forensic Computing was invited to work for 15 months with experts from the global aerospace company.

Molly Airbus main

The 22-year-old was embedded with the firm’s Cyber Forensics team, which uses high-level computing skills to investigate system errors and respond to technical incidents.

Molly said the experience showed her what she wanted to do with her degree but said that it was DMU’s placement team staff which helped her get the position in the first place.

She said: “I went to the Placement Team for some advice. I wasn't overly confident about my abilities for the job, but Robin Kaur from the team encouraged me to apply - so I owe all of this to her to be honest.”

After a successful interview, Molly started her 15-month placement with Airbus, as a Cyber Forensics intern.

She said: “The lab I worked in is research-based, although there was a wide variety of technology that was available to be experimented with.

“I wrote a technical paper and a journal article on the methods and tools required for incident response in those environments.”

The firm is truly international and Molly was able to get a taste for this, jetting out with the team to give presentations or workshops in Belfast and Hamburg.

She said: “With the lab being quite small, I was sat next to experienced professionals who were able to provide input and help with written or technical work.

“They're all motivated and passionate about each area they work in, but are friendly and down to earth, which is the best approach in the workplace.

It gave me an insight into the kind of environment I want to work in as well as the kind of colleague I want to be when I graduate.”

Molly said the skills she was learning at DMU had helped her win the placement and the time at Airbus had made her aware of a kind of work she hadn’t considered before.

She said: “I think it would have been very different for me if I hadn't undertaken a placement. It's an opportunity to get the most from a workplace without certain pressures of it being a graduate job, and gives someone a realistic idea of what they want to do in future.

“I would love to return to Airbus Group to carry on with research, which is something I wouldn't have considered for myself before doing a placement, but the experience has shown me there's a lot to get involved in and research is a fun place to be.”

Dr Kevin Jones, head of product and cyber security research at Airbus, said: “As an Airbus Group centre of excellence for ICS cyber security, De Montfort University is one of our major collaborators in the UK and we are pleased to have completed numerous successful internships, with some students going on to study Airbus Group funded PhDs and even joining our innovations teams on a permanent basis after graduation.”

Posted on Friday 7 October 2016

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