Developing engineers who are both capable and confident in additive manufacturing remains a significant industry challenge, and one way GKN Aerospace is helping to address this is by offering hands on internship opportunities. This session follows the journey of an intern who joined our AM team seven months ago, stepping into the role with strong enthusiasm but limited practical experience. As she navigated real world AM engineering, unexpected technical hurdles, rapid problem solving, and evolving responsibilities, her skills, confidence, and understanding of AM adoption grew quickly. Hearing her story first hand, this session will explore the challenges new users face when adopting and optimising AM technologies, and how hands on experience accelerates growth, confidence, and capability as an emerging AM engineer.