One foot inside

Every year, Aibel offers bachelor’s and master’s students to write their theses within different areas of the company. As a student, you get an insight into working life, and maybe even your first job!

Bachelor gruppe i kantine
Department manager for Piping Design at Aibel in Asker, Thomas Cleveland (at the back) together with the students who were hired, from left: Troy Jonathan Rogstad (pipe support designer), Mehdi Sultani (pipe support engineer), Samir Latif Ahmed (pipe stress engineer) and Thomas Thorbjørnsen (pipe design engineer). Didrik Pettersen (pipe design engineer) was absent when the picture was taken.

The assignments from Aibel cover different subjects and are intended for students in several fields of study across the country. Department manager for Piping Design at Aibel in Asker, Thomas Cleveland, has on several occasions coordinated thesis writing between Aibel and students at OsloMet. He is convinced that the benefits are mutual.

“First and foremost, the students get a foot inside, and even though there is no guarantee, the thesis writing has resulted in job offers several times. For Aibel, it is a better way to become acquainted with good candidates and their skills than what you do in a regular job interview,“ Cleveland explains.

From limited knowledge to first job
In the spring of 2022, six mechanical engineering students from OsloMet wrote their bachelor’s thesis for Aibel. When offered a case-study about a new compressor module for the Snøhvit project at Hammerfest LNG, they were not late to accept.

"I didn't know much about Aibel in advance, but through the university we heard that it often was some of the best students who were selected, and that previous students had also been offered a job afterwards. So, of course, we were both proud and motivated when we we were chosen,” Samir Latif Ahmed explains. He now works as a pipe stress engineer.

The six students made such a good impression that everyone was offered a job in Aibel. And not much time for reflection was needed before five out of six accepted.

“Through the writing of the thesis, I got a very positive impression of Aibel, so I was never in doubt. The choice was simple," says Mehdi Sultani, who is now employed as pipe support engineer.

Challenging – but with good support
For Aibel, it is important that the students get relevant and practical tasks that challenge them, and that they show good collaboration skills and are solution-oriented.

“At first, the task seemed very open and somewhat unclear to us. We felt that Aibel just gave us «breadcrumbs». Afterwards, we can see that it probably was a conscious strategy from Aibel’s side to test the group dynamics and our ability to find solutions ourselves," says Thomas Thorbjørnsen, who is now employed as pipe design engineer.

During the thesis process, there was no lack of advice and guidance from Aibel. A number of status meetings were set up in advance, while the students could ask questions by telephone and email to dedicated contacts at any time.

“The contact persons were very good and across the entire organisation there were many nice people who wanted to help,” says Samir followed by Mehdi:

“We had good cooperation with our contacts, and there was never anyone who turned us down.”

A slight head start
After the summer, the five newly graduated mechanical engineers started working at Aibel in Asker, together with approx. 50 other graduates.

"During the writing we got a bit of a head start, you can say. It gave us a good introduction to the company, some of the tasks and not least some good contacts. But it is a good bunch of new graduates, who are all very well received by Aibel, so they’re probably going to catch up with us,” says Samir Latif Ahmed with a smile.

He and the rest of the group are not in doubt that they would recommend other students to do their thesis with Aibel.

"I've already done that several times," concludes Thomas Thorbjørnsen.

If you would like to find out more about thesis or other exciting opportunities for students in Aibel, please check our career pages for students.

The application deadline for theses during spring 2023 is 15 November 2022.