Ryan Page, BE BCOM

I was excited to join Fulton Hogan as a graduate engineer after completing a Bachelor of Engineering / Bachelor of Commerce conjoint degree at the University of Auckland in 2013.

I was placed in the Maintenance Department as a contract engineer for the South East maintenance contract with involvement in road rehabilitations, asphalt and chipseal resurfacing, kerb and channel renewal, and sealed road maintenance. The team I work in consists of 6 engineers involved with programming and contract management and 3 road work crews that complete the physical work.

The transition from university to fulltime work has been extremely enjoyable and I was able to learn a lot very quickly with Fulton Hogan giving me the opportunity and the space to adjust.

In the first couple of months I experienced the contract both from a physical work delivery and financial perspective. This included time in a crew completing hands-on, practical work in the field. This was a positive experience and very beneficial. It introduced me to the on-site teams I would be responsible for and helped me learn the application of important construction methodologies from a practical perspective.

After working hard for six months, I manage two road work crews. This includes forward programming, supervising on-site construction and ensuring each job is completed to a high quality and Auckland Transport’s budget. I really enjoy the variety provided with work in the office programming and organising jobs and a responsibility to regularly get out on site and work closely with my teams to directly supervise delivery.

I am also currently involved in programming the preseal repairs for sites that are in our resurfacing programme. Resurfacing is a fundamental part of our business and every week we have co-ordination meetings with managers of other departments such as chipseal, paving and traffic management. These meetings are extremely important and involve the coordination of hundreds of people across different departments to deliver an end result to AT.

A recent stand out experience has been a week on Great Barrier Island after a major weather system in June that resulted in extensive flooding and storm damage mainly in the form of slips which impacted severely on their road network. My role (along with another engineer), was to drive the network to identify and record sites that required capital works, provide the client with recommendations, and calculate price estimates for permanent repair work. I also assisted in the design and construction supervision of a temporary roadway and culvert system over a stream adjacent to where an entire section of road had washed away. This experience on Great Barrier has

been a great test of my capabilities and I was required to think on the spot and develop workable, cost effective design solutions in a timely manner.

The maintenance department at Fulton Hogan has been a great place to start my career. The most rewarding thing has been having direct responsibility for delivery of small stand-alone jobs. This has given me the opportunity to understand costing and delivery of an entire project from start to finish, as opposed to managing one small part of a larger job.

Information from Industry for Student Engineers Issue 214

Engineer Your Career

1Engineer Your Career | To feature your company in Engineer Your Career contact Kevin Healey – k.healey@auckland.ac.nz

To feature your company in Engineer Your Career contact Kevin Healey – k.healey@auckland.ac.nz2 | The University of Auckland

HC_Advert_2014-07-08_Auckland University engineer newsletter_V2.indd 1 10/07/2014 12:37:15 PM

3Engineer Your Career |

Who: Samantha Oldfield - I am a Product Development Engineer. I started at the beginning of 2014 as a Graduate at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.

Degree: BE (Honors) – Biomedical Engineering

In a Nutshell: I always knew I wanted to help people. Now as a Product Development Engineer designing breathing devices for Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, I am fulfilling my dream.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare is a global company headquartered in New Zealand. We make medical devices to treat respiratory illnesses in hospitals and at home. Our products are sold worldwide and are used to treat millions of patients every year.

My path to becoming a Product Development Engineer: When I was a kid I wanted to be a doctor or a vet. I was enchanted by the idea of helping. It didn’t matter if they were humans or animals. One of my favourite toys growing up was a toy doctor kit with plastic bandages and a stethoscope. I would go around “fixing” whoever crossed my path. Unfortunately for my cat, she was usually the prime target. As high school came round, the idea of becoming a doctor stuck. There was just the slight problem of not being very good at dealing with death or blood. Maths, physics and graphics were always subjects I had enjoyed, and someone mentioned I should look into engineering. After talking to people at careers evenings and researching the medical device industry it dawned on me that while doctors save one life at a time, as an engineer you can help save thousands. I was sold.

I completed a degree in biomedical engineering, a relatively new specialisation that gave me a broad range of skills from across the engineering disciplines (mechanical, electrical, software etc.) to be applied specifically to medicine and the human body. As part of my degree I completed a summer research scholarship at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute in the Biomechanics of Breast Imaging group, helping to design and develop a new testing rig. This involved research, designing 3D components and testing cameras. In my final year I was lucky enough to be involved with a project sponsored by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. From there I

knew I wanted to help patients breathe easier.

What Does a Product Development Engineer Actually Do? I am involved in the process of designing and developing breathing devices, from clinical and customer research, through to concept generation, prototyping, testing, hospital trialling, final design and finally product release. Every day is different. One day I could be helping to interview doctors and nurses about what issues they are having with their current products. On the next I could be testing the force required to break our device so that it meets our safety requirements. You might find me prototyping different ideas on the computer and getting them 3D printed or using our moulding machines. As a product development engineer you are involved in everything it takes to get an idea into a product that customers love.

Is Fisher & Paykel Healthcare for you? Would you like a career in the Medical Device Industry where your role will assist in saving lives and/or improving people’s on-going quality of life? Do you want to be involved in a

competitive industry and where the equipment you use improves/advances over time? Are you interested in product/process design and manufacturing? Do you have excellent communication skills, like to be hands-on and work well in teams to develop solutions?

We have opportunities in our Product Development, Process Development & Operations teams for Bachelor of Engineering, Science or Technology students in the following disciplines: Mechanical, Electrical/Electronics, Software, Mechatronics, Biomedical/Bioengineering, Product Development, Industrial Design, Computer Systems, Computer Science, Chemical & Materials, Mathematics & Physics.

Our Student Internship applications are open 21st July – 10th August 2014.

To apply go to www.fphcareers.com

HC_Advert_2014-07-08_Auckland University engineer newsletter_V2.indd 1 10/07/2014 12:37:15 PM

| The University of Auckland 4 To feature your company in Engineer Your Career contact Kevin Healey – k.healey@auckland.ac.nz

Max HendrikseBEng (Mechatronics)

I started at Compac as part of the 2012 Summer Student Internship Program after completing my 3rd year of mechatronics at the University of Auckland. Working in the Development Centre (part of the Mechanical R&D Department), I was able to help test and improve new and existing products. The Development Centre is used to prototype, test and develop new products. I was really surprised by how much cool technology goes into the sorting of produce. The highlight of my internship was being able to use the electronics and software skills I

had learnt to automate a couple of the labour-intensive testing processes used previously. One example was iNGRID, a laser grid that records the size and position of any object that is thrown through it. iNGRID is still used today for finding trajectories of falling fruit.

I was offered part-time work during my 4th year and came in to work when I had the time. Everyone was very flexible and understanding when work had to take a back seat to exams and assignments. The only problem I had working part-time was that work was always a lot more interesting than my university work.

After finishing my fourth year I took up a full-time position in the Development Centre. Since then, I have become heavily involved with the development of the “Small Fruit Sorter”, a new machine still under development which is used for sorting cherries. I’ve really enjoyed working on these machines as there is a lot of room for creativity and new ideas. I’ve worked a lot on ways to make fruit flow nicely in water which is quite a new area for Compac. While my role is mostly mechanical I still get to do a fair amount of electronics and software work on my own pet projects.

Because most of Compac’s business is overseas, there is a lot of opportunity to travel to new and interesting places. In my year and a half at Compac, I’ve had a few trips to USA and Chile installing and testing new machines. Being on site usually means long hours and hard work but I learnt a lot from these trips. I

My Experience at Compac

Getting Your Career Sorted

www.compacsort.com

We are accepting applications for our Summer Internship Program right now!

Get your engineering career off to a strong start by gaining your sub professional or practical experience from a world-leading, hi-tech company offering substantial variety and real world experience.

To find out more, visit us at: careers.compacsort.com

was even able to fly my girlfriend over to Chile for a holiday after the job was completed.

Something I really enjoy at Compac is how the atmosphere is quite open and non-hierarchical. I’ve found that the design process is quite open and everyone is welcome to give their ideas and criticisms. Even as a student I was able to attend design review meetings and my input was taken seriously.

There’s a lot of interesting and diverse work that goes on within Compac all around the world and I’m looking forward to getting more involved.

5Engineer Your Career |

You may not have heard of us, but within the primary food processing, Milmeq is internationally known for specialist capital plant equipment to food processing operations all around the world.

If you want your career to tick all the boxes: Engineering from concept to commissioning; International focus; Working alongside industry specialists and experts; Deliver customer-focused solutions.

Milmeq is seeking engineers with a knack for problem solving and a can-do attitude.

Margarita Savchenko

Controls Engineer

“I recently joined Milmeq as an undergrad intern, working on the development of a simulation platform for Milmeq’s new Storage and Retrieval System (MFAST) designs. The project was recently completed and we were very happy with results”.

With a large number of design alternatives, simulation dramatically accelerated product development and enabled to respond quickly to new requirements. Simulation enables Milmeq to analyse design options, predict performance optimise solutions to customer and requirements.

As a result of her work as an intern, Margarita accepted an offer to join Milmeq’s Controls Team and is fast becoming one of Milmeq’s key systems simulation experts.

Ben Willets

Graduate Engineer

“I completed my B.E. (Mechanical) at the University of Auckland in 2013. With previous experience in the HVAC industry, I was interested in a career in Industrial Refrigeration. Milmeq was a logical place of application, and I joined the Auckland team as a Graduate Engineer in January 2014. It has been enjoyable and beneficial working alongside professional engineers from Refrigeration, Mechanical and Electrical/Controls disciplines. In the initial stages of my employment I gained experience in two primary facets of engineering work; Project Management and Product Design/Development. I had the opportunity to focus more towards design work, in order to develop my technical understanding of our products. Working on international projects in Australia and Mexico has proved insightful, and I anticipate opportunities of personal and professional development ahead.”

Milmeq supports Engineering Undergraduates through the Auckland University Faculty of Engineering Milmeq scholarship (Code No. 422) as well as targeted graduate internships.

For more information email recruitment@milmeq.com or go to www.milmeq.com

| The University of Auckland 6 To feature your company in Engineer Your Career contact Kevin Healey – k.healey@auckland.ac.nz

Since 1870 Downer has been an integral part of the planning, building and maintaining of New Zealand’s road, rail, recreation, water, energy and communications infrastructure. Responding to the changing needs of our clients is a key challenge for Downer and a primary reason we look to our future. We ensure our young professionals are tomorrow’s leaders by developing a programme focussed on technical excellence, leadership and exceptional project management capability.

Downer keeps pace with the changing marketplace by developing the right skills in our future leaders. We know we have to meet the expectations of our graduates in terms of challenging work, skill development and opportunities to grow their careers. Our programme runs for three years to ensure our graduates develop a well-rounded skills base and experience a robust rotation process.   Our Young Professionals Programme also includes individual career development plans, mentoring, rotations internally and, where appropriate, with external partners as well as learning events, including a Young Professionals Conference. Our Young Professionals program provides experience around New Zealand – plus we have a number of our Young Professionals on rotation to the Solomon Islands on a VSA partnership.

Case Study Rangitoto Island Wharf Construction

Graduate Profile: Brendon Pickerill, Summer Intern 2011-2012 and Graduate Engineer 2013

My first role with Downer as a Graduate was as Site Engineer for the Rangitoto Wharf Construction. Rangitoto Island is the largest volcanic field in Auckland and dominates the Auckland harbour, boasting one of New Zealand’s largest pohutukawa forests and a pest free environment, overseen by the Department of Conservation. The existing wharf, a critical element in the servicing of the island, has supported the island since it was built in 1897 and while it has had a colourful history, the 100,000 annual visitors to the island have taken

their toll on the 116 year old structure. Downer was engaged in 2012 for the construction of an “all sailable weather wharf”, an essential part of the community’s enjoyment and the servicing of both Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands. The new wharf has been designed to allow deep water access for larger vessels and features a double landing design. The new wharf will have an 86m long approach wharf connected to a 41 x 13m Wharf Head aligned to the prevailing south-westerly wind to provide enhanced safety for vessels from the nearby volcanic rock outcrops. Working to a tight budget with the Department of Conservation, the wharf is constructed with bottom driven pile shells, subsequently filled with reinforced concrete to form the vertical supports for the precast decking structures.

I have really enjoyed working on the project. The technical challenges of a remote site (like the relocation of a 55 tonne Kobelco Crawler Crane from the mainland via the ferry!) and the critical approach to environmental care have provided additional challenges to the role. Plus managing and balancing the needs and demands of the Engineer and the subcontractors on site has been a big challenge.

I’ve felt privileged to be a part of the Downer Graduate Programme plus I have had great people working around me who have helped me in my career so far with Downer.

Downer also supports my personal activities. I spend a lot of my time outside of Downer, refereeing rugby matches both here in New Zealand and the occasional international game. I’ve always loved the game and enjoy the challenge of refereeing and trying to improve each week. Downer gives me the flexibility to take time off work to pursue my refereeing while still focussing on my career and future.

With the Rangitoto Wharf project coming to a close, Brendon is now working on the Marine Square Project in Devonport which is the redevelopment of the Ferry Building car park, surrounding area and installation of a new wharf boardwalk.

7Engineer Your Career |

Jacobs and Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) have combined to form one of the world's largest and most diverse providers of technical, professional and construction services across multiple markets and geographies. Our global network includes 70,000 employees in more than 30 countries around the world.

Rachel Arthur, Electrical Engineer, AucklandOne of the best things about working at Jacobs is that I work on so many different things. In the six months since I started working full time I’ve helped with everything from enormous geothermal power plants in Kenya to insurance investigations in New Zealand, doing everything from cable sizing calculations to meeting clients. Most of the projects I work on involve structural, mechanical, process, environmental and electrical engineers all working together. This can be challenging but it does make life more interesting!

My most memorable experiences are site visits. My favourite so far: climbing around inside a hydropower dam, examining all the equipment and admiring the view from the top. There’s a feeling of awe when you realise just how hard it must have been to build such a huge structure in an isolated area 100 years ago.

Rachel in the office inspecting light fittings

Tom Barlow, Civil Environmental Engineer,Auckland

I joined Jacobs as a sprightly young undergrad via its First Look scholarship program. Now in my second year with the Water Networks Team as a fully-fledged graduate, I find myself working on a wide variety of projects, mostly in the design, construction monitoring and contract administration spaces.

The opportunities and choices I have been presented with thus far have been exceptional. I never anticipated how quickly I have gained skills and responsibilities. It’s true what your lecturers say…. Once you’ve finished your degree, you are then ready to begin learning how to become an engineer!

Advice to new grads? Never be afraid to take any opportunity you stumble upon, just put your hand up to give it your best shot. It may be a steep learning curve, but it is one hell of a journey and who knows where it’ll take you.

Antony Feek, Water Engineer, WellingtonAt the beginning of 2014 I moved to Wellington to take on a graduate position with the Jacobs Water and Environmental team. With only six months of work behind me I have had the chance to be involved with a challenging variety of work. I have helped design wastewater, water, and stormwater services as well as being involved with flood modelling and remediation.

Definitely one of my favourite parts of working for Jacobs is that it is truly a global company. Not only have I had the chance to live and work in a new city straight out of university, but I work alongside engineers from all over the globe working on projects pretty much anywhere you can think of.

Michael Klingenberg, Process Engineer, AucklandI finished my Chemical and Material Engineering degree in 2012, and started with Jacobs as part of the Process Engineering team in Auckland. Primarily based in the Auckland office, I started off with design work on geothermal power plants. I have also been out of the office and undertaken geothermal feature monitoring in the Bay of Plenty, drawing checks in a power plant, and spent several months on site at a dairy factory in the South Island working as a project engineer.

Working for Jacobs has been a great start to my career. There is a large variety of work to get involved in and the opportunity to rub shoulders with engineers from around the world - there's always more to learn and I'm enjoying it so far!

Michael measuring stream velocity and flow rates

Jacobs and Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) have combined to form one of the world's largest and most diverse providers of technical, professional and construction services across multiple markets and geographies. Our global network includes 70,000 employees in more than 30 countries around the world.

Rachel Arthur, Electrical Engineer, AucklandOne of the best things about working at Jacobs is that I work on so many different things. In the six months since I started working full time I’ve helped with everything from enormous geothermal power plants in Kenya to insurance investigations in New Zealand, doing everything from cable sizing calculations to meeting clients. Most of the projects I work on involve structural, mechanical, process, environmental and electrical engineers all working together. This can be challenging but it does make life more interesting!

My most memorable experiences are site visits. My favourite so far: climbing around inside a hydropower dam, examining all the equipment and admiring the view from the top. There’s a feeling of awe when you realise just how hard it must have been to build such a huge structure in an isolated area 100 years ago.

Rachel in the office inspecting light fittings

Tom Barlow, Civil Environmental Engineer,Auckland

I joined Jacobs as a sprightly young undergrad via its First Look scholarship program. Now in my second year with the Water Networks Team as a fully-fledged graduate, I find myself working on a wide variety of projects, mostly in the design, construction monitoring and contract administration spaces.

The opportunities and choices I have been presented with thus far have been exceptional. I never anticipated how quickly I have gained skills and responsibilities. It’s true what your lecturers say…. Once you’ve finished your degree, you are then ready to begin learning how to become an engineer!

Advice to new grads? Never be afraid to take any opportunity you stumble upon, just put your hand up to give it your best shot. It may be a steep learning curve, but it is one hell of a journey and who knows where it’ll take you.

Antony Feek, Water Engineer, WellingtonAt the beginning of 2014 I moved to Wellington to take on a graduate position with the Jacobs Water and Environmental team. With only six months of work behind me I have had the chance to be involved with a challenging variety of work. I have helped design wastewater, water, and stormwater services as well as being involved with flood modelling and remediation.

Definitely one of my favourite parts of working for Jacobs is that it is truly a global company. Not only have I had the chance to live and work in a new city straight out of university, but I work alongside engineers from all over the globe working on projects pretty much anywhere you can think of.

Michael Klingenberg, Process Engineer, AucklandI finished my Chemical and Material Engineering degree in 2012, and started with Jacobs as part of the Process Engineering team in Auckland. Primarily based in the Auckland office, I started off with design work on geothermal power plants. I have also been out of the office and undertaken geothermal feature monitoring in the Bay of Plenty, drawing checks in a power plant, and spent several months on site at a dairy factory in the South Island working as a project engineer.

Working for Jacobs has been a great start to my career. There is a large variety of work to get involved in and the opportunity to rub shoulders with engineers from around the world - there's always more to learn and I'm enjoying it so far!

Michael measuring stream velocity and flow rates

| The University of Auckland 8 To feature your company in Engineer Your Career contact Kevin Healey – k.healey@auckland.ac.nz

Engineering and Energy a winning combination!

Engineering graduate Wei-Lin Fan admits that she didn’t have a clue where she would go after graduating.

As a self-confessed foodie, Wei-Lin had thought she may enter the food industry, “just because I like eating!”.

“While I was at University I didn’t know a great deal about gas,” explains Wei-Lin. But a summer internship at Shell changed everything.

“Later that year when the graduate applications opened, I didn’t hesitate to apply because I knew the energy industry was a

great place to kick-start an exciting career and I would also be joining a fun and dynamic department.”

Shell’s graduate programme places Bachelor’s, Master’s, a PhD graduates into structured training over a three to five year period guiding them towards a successful and professionally fulfilling career.

With a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) from Auckland University, Wei-Lin joined Shell as a Production Technologist on the programme. The company with a 100 year history in New Zealand produces about 70% of the country’s natural gas supply from the Kapuni, Māui and Pohokura fields in a Joint Venture structure.

In addition to working with peers and senior managers as part of a team, a key part of the programme is matching each graduate with a mentor.

“I have an amazing mentor! She encourages me to seek opportunities I would have otherwise never have considered, keeps me focused on what is important and has taught me a lot about the industry,” says Wei-Lin.

“Each discipline such as Production Technology has a number of key competencies which must be achieved within a recommended timeframe. Graduates undergo both formal training (classroom and field trips) and on the job training in order to develop these skills.

I have also completed leadership courses and cross business learning because Shell recognises the importance of being connected with other colleagues and the broader community as well.”

To take up the graduate position with Shell, Wei-Lin moved to Shell’s New Plymouth office but that wasn’t the only beneficial move she experienced.

“What I have really enjoyed is travelling half way around the world for training and networking with other Shell graduates – learning from each other and keeping in contact for possible cross postings in the future.”

According to Wei-Lin, the most important attributes any graduate considering the programme should have are self-motivation, a dedication to learn and the courage to ask questions.

“It is also essential to have an open mind to look for new opportunities and perseverance to make the most of them.”

Now a couple of years into her graduate programme, Wei-Lin is quite clear about the benefits of working for Shell.

“The best thing is working for a well-known, well-respected, global company which means having access to great systems, technologies, best practices and years of experience.”

For further details about Shell’s exciting opportunities please visit: www.shell.co.nz/graduate

To keep in touch register at: www.shell.com/stc

9Engineer Your Career |

Chun-Lin Lee

TDG Student Engineer

I first learnt of TDG (Traffic Design Group) in my third year of study when I visited their booth at the 2013 University of Auckland Engineering Careers Expo. I was already interested in pursuing a career in transportation engineering, and TDG appealed to me as a mid-sized company with expertise in both traffic engineering and transport planning. They also seemed to have a variety of different jobs, ranging from small residential developments to large commercial and public works, as well as having projects and offices all over the country.

In 2013 I applied for, and was very honoured to be awarded, the TDG scholarship. Each year the TDG scholarship is awarded to a third-year student studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Civil and Environmental Engineering and is judged on the applicant’s desire to pursue a career in transportation engineering, written and verbal communication skills, leadership potential, contribution to university and community activities, as well as academic achievement. The award carries a value of $7,500 which is paid towards the recipient’s Part IV fees. Applications for the 2014 TDG scholarship close on Friday 8 August, and I highly

recommend applying if you feel that a career in transportation engineering is right for you.

Since being awarded the TDG scholarship I have been invited to a number of company events including TDG’s Friday afternoon technical seminars. At these sessions a staff member presents a talk on one of their current projects. I was lucky to sit in on two seminars: the SkyPath project, a proposed shared walking and cycling route across the Auckland Harbour Bridge; and the upgrade to the Auckland Airport forecourt, which involved extensive modelling and network analysis. These seminars gave me an insight into the types of projects and challenges I may be working on in my future career.

In the Semester One mid-semester break I was given the opportunity to work part-time at the TDG Auckland office, and I have continued working one day a week while I complete my studies. I have been given tasks on a range of different projects that have included research, data entry and manipulation, surveys and site visits. As the office is mid-sized I’ve had the chance to work with many of the staff, ranging from graduate and intermediate engineers right up to principal engineers and planners. I’ve really enjoyed working on real projects and proposals, and the practical experiences I’ve had at TDG have supported and given context to what I’ve learnt at university.

Although I joined TDG at a busy time, it hasn’t been all work! There is a table tennis table in the sitting area where competitive singles and doubles matches occur regularly during morning tea and lunch breaks. Morning tea shouts usually happen about once a week to celebrate a staff member’s birthday or work anniversary, and have included fresh baked bread, scones with jam and cream, chocolate, lollies and plenty of sausage rolls. On Mondays TDG provides lunch over the weekly job meeting and on Fridays we finish work a little early and share a drink over the technical seminar.

My experience with TDG has been incredibly positive. I’ve really enjoyed working on a range of projects and learning from my more experienced colleagues, who are always happy to further explain and discuss their work with me. TDG is a fast-paced company with many exciting contracts and industry relationships. Their work positively impacts neighbourhoods, the public and their clients, which for me is what engineering is all about.

| The University of Auckland 10 To feature your company in Engineer Your Career contact Kevin Healey – k.healey@auckland.ac.nz

Jin Tac Kwon

Bachelor of Commerce / Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Conjoint

Specialisation in Electrical and Electronic Engineering Major in Economics

“Life at Vodafone is never ‘typical’. Every day is different and dynamic. Technology is evolving at every instance and Vodafone, being a technology firm is dynamically adjusting itself every second to lead the evolving technology.”

Jin first heard about the Vodafone Graduate Programme in 2012 when previous graduates visited the Engineering school. He noticed how each presenter was passionate about their work and learned how they thrive in the work environment - fast paced and dynamic yet friendly and supportive. He found out how Vodafone values flexibility and diversity which are a couple of traits that he values himself.

For Jin, every day is about learning something new. “It could be learning about all the technical details related to telecommunica-tions, or it could be developing and establish-ing new relationships with various people in the company. It could also be about learning and developing communication and people skills. It’s not about sitting at your desk all day doing work that is given to you but it is about seeking opportunities, always looking for something new to learn, and absorbing all the valuable experiences you could gain from your time at Vodafone.”

As a graduate, Jin has the opportunity to rotate around different teams every 3 months and learn something new.

“My Home Team, which is like my base station, is called the Network Planning team. The Planning team involves working with various other teams in the Network Department and the two main functions involve Capacity Planning and Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) Planning.”

Capacity Planning involves work such as traffic forecasting and governance related to growing the capacity of our fixed and mobile networks while CAPEX Planning is around investments for the next 3 years to increase the network’s capacity and capability.

“I have been given a monthly task of reporting KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to Vodafone Group so our network performance is constantly checked against other Vodafone operating companies around the world.”  

Aside from the Network Planning team, he also had the opportunity to work with the Radio Access Network (RAN) Optimisation team who makes sure our network is always at its best.

“I worked on rural sites and it was fun being able to remotely control the parameters but at the same time it was very scary knowing how I could affect the nation’s coverage with just a mouse click. Working with the RAN Optimisation team gave me a deeper understanding of RF Engineering and it was very interesting to learn

how 2G, 3G, and 4G work.”

With one and a half year remaining in the programme, Jin looks forward to gain more technical knowledge and build relationships with the people he meets along the way. Ultimately, he aims to get a full time role with his Home Team and eventually, lead projects. By then, he reckons the technology will be completely different to what we have now.

To be successful at Vodafone, here’s an advice from Jin:

“I think the most important attribute is the eagerness to learn, never be afraid to ask questions and ‘be yourself’. I learned that it is up to me to always be in the frontline asking for questions and try to break free from my comfort zone. The people are always nice and are willing to share their experience and knowledge.”

“I also think it is important to have a personality that matches the company’s core values. At Vodafone, this means working with Speed, Simplicity, and Trust.  If your values align with the company’s values, I think it works as a synergy because you work more effectively for just being who you are.”

Vodafone are now recruiting graduates for next year’s intake.

For more information, follow us on www.facebook.com/VodafoneNZCareers

11Engineer Your Career |

Rose Thomas - Vector

At the end of my degree I started as a Graduate Engineer in Vector’s Asset Investment team in 2013.

Vector has a great two year graduate program with rotations within the Asset Investment team as well as external placements and placements with other areas of the business. It is a great way to ease that transition from University to the workplace and it has been a great experience. The program has thus far provided me with a great exposure to the electricity industry, specifically asset management and network planning as well as protection engineering. The graduate program also provides various training opportunities that allows you to grow in your technical knowledge as well as your professional development.

My placement began in the Electricity Network Development team. This is where projects are initiated. I was involved with various projects both big and small with it being the right place to start as you see the beginning of the project process while at the same giving you a comprehensive understanding of the electricity network.

The biggest project I was involved with in Network Development was doing a solution study for the replacement of a switchboard at a zone substation. This involved many site visits, co-ordination with relevant stakeholders,

outlining the requirements of the site and ensuring that the study had all the details necessary for a project initiation.

I was involved with various relocation projects which enabled me to interact and co-ordinate with third parties. Other projects also included providing supply to new subdivisions, assisting with the load forecast model and doing various load flow studies.

My next placement was in the asset integrity team. This provided me with a great exposure to the day-to-day tasks involved with asset management. My placement in this team has involved calculating ratings for the whole network which is crucial to determine the allowable capacity of the network.

My current placement, in the protection and control team, has included various projects giving me exposure to both the technical and the project management aspects of asset management. My involvement thus far has included various projects, documentation and option analysis. One of the projects I was involved in was installing new antennas at a Vector site – managing all necessary parties as well the documentation of the process. Another project involved the replacement of communications equipment also on various sites. I was responsible for the management as well the documentation for both projects. I was also involved in various option analysis that gave me

an exposure to the problem solving process.

The Vector graduate program has been a very enjoyable journey that has not only been an easy transition from university, but also a great learning curve for my first few years as an electrical engineer. Vector has a great team of people that are always more than happy to help, share their knowledge and answer any number of questions. Although you feel as you may have learnt a lot at university, you realise that a work environment is completely different and there are many challenges you face. For the Vector graduate program, you are paired with a senior engineer in each team who takes their time to assist you in any way possible. This along with the positive environment, as well as being involved with various projects that makes no two days the same, makes the graduate program a truly enjoyable experience.

Rose Thomas completed her BE (Hons) – Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Auckland University at the end of 2012. Her time at university involved a combination of power systems and telecommunications engineering.

Rose chose Vector as the business plays a key role in both of these sectors. She accepted a place into the Graduate Engineer programme in 2013

To feature your company in Engineer Your Career contact Kevin Healey – k.healey@auckland.ac.nz12 | The University of Auckland

Ali HassanMechanical/Piping - Engineer

WorleyParsons New ZealandWorleyParsons is a leading provider of professional services to the resources & energy sectors and complex process industries.

Their services cover the full asset spectrum both in size and lifecycle – from the creation of new assets to services that sustain and enhance operating assets.

From small brownfield services contracts to mega greenfield projects, WorleyParsons has the skills and technologies to address all challenges.

I joined WorleyParsons in October 2011 as a graduate mechanical engineer after completing my Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) (mechanical) at the University of Waikato.

Working small projects, gaining confidenceThe start of my professional career with WorleyParsons involved working on small projects for one of our customers, Shell Todd Oil Services (STOS). Working for STOS involved doing basic hand-calculations, basic computer simulations of new pipe work added to existing plants and some site visits to take measurements.

Secondment to customerAn opportunity arose to work in one of our customer’s offices for ten months.

The secondment involved a range of work assisting the different sites owned and operated by our customer. The work varied from closing out completed projects, to managing small budget projects which involved visiting site to meet with site operation personnel and get a first-hand understanding of the problem. We were then able to analyse all the information to come up with a plan to solve the problem. Depending on the size and complexity of the problem, a simple engineering solution can be carried out in the customer’s office and other times an engineering consultancy like WorleyParsons is involved to solve bigger problems. This opportunity gave me an insight into the work that happens on the customer’s side of the fence.

Round the clock design capabilityAfter my return from the ten month secondment, I was lucky enough to work on the Mangahewa Expansion Train 2 (MET2) project. On this project I carried out pipe stressing analysis and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) while liaising with the WorleyParsons Thailand office. Our Thailand office was engaged during the design phase as part of a work-share solution to help us speed up the process and achieve the deadlines our customer had to meet. MET2 is a gas processing plant, able to recover LPG and stabilise the associated condensate. The plant is currently fully operational with a design capacity 25 PetaJoule (1015 Joules) of gas per annum.

Pad to plant constructionAt the end of the design phase of MET2, the construction team required a graduate on site, so I volunteered. The twelve month position took me from working with our WorleyParsons construction team, preparing construction work packs for the contractors prior to construction, to helping out the contractors with any issues during the construction and some pre-commissioning work after the construction was completed. I got to see the site progress from just a flat concrete slab to a fully operational gas processing plant. This is an experience I will remember for a long time.

Graduate Development Organisation (GDO)Being part of the Graduate Development Organisation (GDO) is about turning fresh graduates into well-rounded engineers.

Through the GDO graduates are offered training, support and rotations within the organisation, helping them gain exposure to the organisation’s engineering capabilities and allowing them to see the different career paths available within their discipline and the wider global organisation. I got my chance to rotate within the company and a customer’s office, helping me gain invaluable experience and I have loved every minute of it.

Ali HassanMechanical/Piping - Engineer

WorleyParsons New ZealandWorleyParsons is a leading provider of professional services to the resources & energy sectors and complex process industries.

Their services cover the full asset spectrum both in size and lifecycle – from the creation of new assets to services that sustain and enhance operating assets.

From small brownfield services contracts to mega greenfield projects, WorleyParsons has the skills and technologies to address all challenges.

I joined WorleyParsons in October 2011 as a graduate mechanical engineer after completing my Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) (mechanical) at the University of Waikato.

Working small projects, gaining confidenceThe start of my professional career with WorleyParsons involved working on small projects for one of our customers, Shell Todd Oil Services (STOS). Working for STOS involved doing basic hand-calculations, basic computer simulations of new pipe work added to existing plants and some site visits to take measurements.

Secondment to customerAn opportunity arose to work in one of our customer’s offices for ten months.

The secondment involved a range of work assisting the different sites owned and operated by our customer. The work varied from closing out completed projects, to managing small budget projects which involved visiting site to meet with site operation personnel and get a first-hand understanding of the problem. We were then able to analyse all the information to come up with a plan to solve the problem. Depending on the size and complexity of the problem, a simple engineering solution can be carried out in the customer’s office and other times an engineering consultancy like WorleyParsons is involved to solve bigger problems. This opportunity gave me an insight into the work that happens on the customer’s side of the fence.

Round the clock design capabilityAfter my return from the ten month secondment, I was lucky enough to work on the Mangahewa Expansion Train 2 (MET2) project. On this project I carried out pipe stressing analysis and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) while liaising with the WorleyParsons Thailand office. Our Thailand office was engaged during the design phase as part of a work-share solution to help us speed up the process and achieve the deadlines our customer had to meet. MET2 is a gas processing plant, able to recover LPG and stabilise the associated condensate. The plant is currently fully operational with a design capacity 25 PetaJoule (1015 Joules) of gas per annum.

Pad to plant constructionAt the end of the design phase of MET2, the construction team required a graduate on site, so I volunteered. The twelve month position took me from working with our WorleyParsons construction team, preparing construction work packs for the contractors prior to construction, to helping out the contractors with any issues during the construction and some pre-commissioning work after the construction was completed. I got to see the site progress from just a flat concrete slab to a fully operational gas processing plant. This is an experience I will remember for a long time.

Graduate Development Organisation (GDO)Being part of the Graduate Development Organisation (GDO) is about turning fresh graduates into well-rounded engineers.

Through the GDO graduates are offered training, support and rotations within the organisation, helping them gain exposure to the organisation’s engineering capabilities and allowing them to see the different career paths available within their discipline and the wider global organisation. I got my chance to rotate within the company and a customer’s office, helping me gain invaluable experience and I have loved every minute of it.