Hello! My name is Tom and I took an internship with QLM Technology for 3 months, funded through the SME Internship Scheme.
I initially contacted the company through their website and quickly received a response and interview from the R and D Team. I had heard about the company through their links with Bristol University and the QTEC Quantum incubator program that the company was founded from.
I was looking to gain experience in research and experimental science, since my degree had unfortunately been impacted by COVID, reducing the opportunity for me to access labs during my studies. The company were happy to host me and give me the opportunity to learn lab skills while also seeing how a small company works.
The internship
The work I was part of was varied and interesting. For the first few weeks, I was getting up to speed with the technology that the company develops and learning about each part of the product. QLM develops a world-leading methane gas detection system, using a combination of single photon lidar and time correlated single photon counting, and there was a lot of background physics and engineering for me to learn about.
My colleagues at QLM were helpful, and patient when I asked lots of questions! They gave me the time to learn independently, while also keeping me involved with tasks that helped me see how everything fitted together. I very quickly felt like a part of the team and felt like the work I was doing was driving the technology forward.
My main task during the 3 month internship involved automating an optics experiment in their lab which tests and characterises single photon detectors. With lots of physics and Python scripting later, I had successfully designed the experiment to run automatically, saving lots of time for future tests. This rig is now being used in the production line of the company, and I am happy to have made an impact in just a few months.
With my internship coming to a close, QLM offered to keep me on with a full-time contract, and I stayed with the company for a further 5 months after the internship ended. I have now left the company to pursue a PhD, but the experience gained from my time with QLM will be invaluable in my future study.
Want to be an SME Intern?
The scheme is due to reopen at the start of the academic year.
- Find out more about the SME Internship Scheme on our website.
- Check out our “My SME Internship” blog series to hear more student stories.
- If you have any questions about the scheme, writing your application, or anything else relating to careers you can speak to us on live chat, or pop in to 5 Tyndall Avenue.