Designing deployable health modules, researching healthcare gaps in remote communities and still in university? Life as a Saab intern.
Our 12 week paid internship program gives undergraduates the opportunity to experience what it will be like to practice their profession and work alongside industry leaders across the defence and security sectors.
Largely, the interns we take on each year reflect our business structure and they specialise in engineering majors including electrical/electronics, mechanical/mechatronics, computer systems or software engineering. Diversifying our program, this year our intern cohort included a Market Research Intern in our new Victorian Office.
Saab continues to experience unprecedented growth, mirroring Australia’s booming defence industry. With many exciting opportunities, we encourage undergraduates of broader specialisations in their penultimate year to enquire with our Human Resources team and apply for our internship program.
Hilary, Justin and Kevin are three of this year’s interns who were placed in our Deployable Health division within Saab’s Land division.
Meet Kevin
Studying Biomedical Engineering
“My internship project focused on research and development of deployable health modules to provide aid for rural and remote communities impacted by major health challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic. My project included research into the difficulties these communities experience in accessing adequate and reliable healthcare, proposing a solution for the deployable health module, modelling the proposed deployable health modules in 2D and 3D CAD, and lastly presenting my project findings to senior engineers within Saab.
“The experience has been a lot of fun! Mostly, it’s been the simple things like learning to work in an office, getting to know people within the division and gaining relationships along the way."
You don’t realise the social impact working in an office has; working alongside people all day is the best way to learn the practicalities of working in a professional setting.
“I really enjoyed researching a topic which was interesting to me, and I found modelling the modules and seeing the design come to life visually a very fulfilling experience. I’ve found people are always willing to help and answer any questions I have – so don’t be afraid to ask!”
Meet Justin
Studying Mechanical and Biomedical Science
“I’ve always had an interest in science, maths and technology and loved building things out of LEGO as a kid, so naturally I am pursuing a career that incorporates all these aspects into one.
“Similar to Kevin, I am also based in Saab’s Victorian office over the summer to research and develop deployable health modules, particularly focusing on deployable dialysis modules for remote areas.
Although challenging at first, I have enjoyed the freedom to approach this project in whichever way I liked, although I always had access to Saab engineers to help guide me in the right direction.
"The project required lots of research into all aspects of the module, including the process of dialysis itself, dialysis centre requirements and design, deployment factors such as terrain and climate, and lots of technical requirements.
“The centrepiece to my project was the CAD design, which really allowed me to construct and visualise the module in a way which easily communicated all the design requirements of the project.
“The internship was not just about expanding my technical knowledge but it also gave me the opportunity to meet new people and gain professional skills such as clear communication, presenting to clients, workshopping with colleagues and collaborating with the team to find the best solutions for the project.
“My time at Saab has taught me the age old question of ‘what does an engineer do day-to-day?’ Keep an open mind to what you’ll learn and what you might gain from an internship – you’ll learn much more than you think. ”
Meet Hilary
Studying Design and Business, majoring in Communication Design and Marketing
“Over the course of my internship within the Land team at Saab I have focused on market research of the healthcare industry in remote Australia. With the aim to identify key stakeholder and service gaps so that in the future those needs can be met with deployable health solutions.
“The remainder of my project was focused on researching effective ways to communicate our deployable health solutions to organisations who can provide healthcare to remotely based Australians. To aid in my research I reached out to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations for consultation about culturally appropriate messaging.
I really enjoyed working on this project because it has given me a lot of perspective about the healthcare gaps and ways that we can help these communities.
“I have gained so much during this internship, it has given me insight into the type of work I will be doing once I finish university and has helped me understand how my studies can be applied to real life projects.”
Being an intern at Saab could give you any one of a hundred stories. Although Hilary, Justin and Kevin all worked with our Deployable Health division, other interns placed in South Australia worked on projects in our Maritime, Underwater and Security divisions – all with vastly different project focuses.
Although the project opportunities between domains are distinctively diverse, there is one commonality in being a Saab intern, you will gain industry experience, professional relationships and opportunities to broaden your horizons.