The students were also given a tour of the site where they were able to see at first hand a range of high-profile defence and aerospace manufacturing activities.

Briefings covered the Watchkeeper unmanned air system (UAS), a range of civil and military flight simulators, the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier programme and the company’s international naval business.

As well as learning more about Thales’s operations and markets, the visitors were able to talk to a large number of graduate employees, who work with the company in a range of disciplines, including software, systems, hardware, electronics, mechanical engineering and manufacturing.

One of the presenters, James McKelvie – who joined Thales in 2010 after graduating from Bristol with a Master’s in Engineering – explained his current power and propulsion role with the prestigious Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier programme. Another presenter, Lawrence Brown, deputy director of the Watchkeeper programme, talked about his role with the innovative UAS team with his student son Ryan in the audience.

Paul West from the Queen’s School of Engineering and organiser of the visit said: ‘We had a great response from our students to the visit to Thales UK and the day proved very successful. As well as benefiting from seeing technology in action and application at the Crawley site, the students were greatly inspired by meeting graduates of the University who were employed there.’

Each year, Thales UK takes on up to 130 graduates and operates a comprehensive four-year Graduate Development Programme, comprising of both engineering, and business and finance streams.