Meet the apprentice - Daniel

Meet Daniel, one of our apprentices at Roke, who shares his experiences of being an apprentice. 

Daniel Baynton, Software Engineering Degree Apprentice, Roke

“I chose an apprenticeship over full-time university because I’m a hands-on learner, preferring to develop my STEM skills through experimenting and real-world experience.

“At Roke, I’ve been placed in friendly, supportive teams where I’m trusted to contribute to the technical solution and team discussions like any other engineer. There’s a great culture of knowledge sharing, so I’m comfortable asking for help, or even recommending different approaches to more senior engineers. I get to see the value of my contributions and hear how the resulting product is used in the real world, which is really rewarding.

“Roke stood out to me over other apprenticeships because of its smaller teams, often working towards separate goals. I can have a greater impact on the direction of a project rather than contributing to a tiny part. Every project is different, so throughout my apprenticeship I will get opportunities to work across many areas of software engineering and cyber security.

“My favourite day so far was when I delivered a demonstration to customer stakeholders, completely on my own. Throughout the remainder of my apprenticeship, I’m looking forward to working on new projects and I’m keen to work on a project from the very beginning, allowing me to experience the entirety of a project’s lifecycle.”