One of Scotland’s most promising of apprentices will be marking Scottish Apprenticeship Week by sharing his career experiences to date with the potential next generation of engineers and managers at an event at the University of Strathclyde.

Samir Khan-Young, a Manufacturing Engineer at Thales’ Glasgow site, was crowned Graduate Apprentice of the Year and scooped overall Scottish Apprentice of the Year at 2021 Scottish Apprenticeship Awards.

This year, the former Bannerman High School pupil will be returning to his home university at Strathclyde where he will be part of a March 10th event to promote graduate apprenticeships to young people as a career option.

Samir Khan-Young said:

“I’m looking forward to it – one of the key things I’ve learned so far is how invaluable it is to share knowledge and experiences. If I can help anyone decide what career path they want to follow by talking about my own journey, then great.

“Growing up in Glasgow, I didn’t really have a clear idea of what I wanted to do except that I wanted to be a footballer!  But looking back at my time in school, I knew I had an interest in military vehicles. I was an Army Cadet and was proud to have reached the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major, which is the highest rank a cadet can get, so I must have been keen.

“So an apprenticeship at Thales offered me a chance to develop that interest, but it also seemed to offer a real career path and the chance to learn a profession.”

Samir joined Thales as a 17-year-old in 2012, going on to complete a Modern Apprenticeship before moving on to a Graduate Apprenticeship in Engineering: Design and Manufacture, splitting his time between his work at the Thales Govan site and his studies at Strathclyde.

The Thales Glasgow site is a centre of excellence for military vehicle integration and also designs and manufactures highly complex optronic sensors. Every Royal Navy submarine since 1917 has been fitted with a Thales periscope or optronic mast from Glasgow.

The 26-year-old added:

“The thing that struck home for me was realising that the work we do really matters. Military personnel put their trust in these vehicles or sensors to protect them. It’s a bit daunting at first, but your experience builds.

“There is so much expertise all around you – whether you want to ask about optronics, electrical or mechanical – and people are really passionate about quality of workmanship. Combining that industry experience with my studies at Strathclyde really worked for me.

“But when the pandemic hit, I was part of the nightshift team producing PPE for NHS frontline workers at the nearby hospital nearby.  I loved that, you felt you were supporting the city during a tough time.

“One of the things I like about working alongside fellow engineers is that they love a challenge and solving problems. Show most people a brick wall and they see a brick wall. Whereas an engineer will say, so how do we get round or through this – how are we going to solve this?

“Listening and learning to some very experienced engineers has been key to my career so far and that’s how they learned when they started out.

“So going to Strathclyde to talk to people who are thinking of the apprentice route is something I’m very happy to do. I asked a lot of questions starting out and think I still do. You’re always learning!”

Thales is dedicated to investing in our people and continuing to create highly skilled jobs across the UK. Talented people are vital to our success and we are aware of how important it is to continue to bring through new people into our sectors to ensure that we have the skills and workforce we need.

A number of our managers and leaders started their journey as apprentices, such as our Engineering Early Careers Manager who joined us as a Modern Apprentice at the start of his career in Glasgow. At 249 strong and with a record high intake for 2022, we have apprenticeships in places, such as, Glasgow, Wales, Belfast, London, Reading, Cheadle, Crawley and Somerset, ranging from entry level through to post-graduate.