Q: Which were your favourite subjects in high school?

Science, Technologies and The Arts

Q: What further study/qualifications did you complete after high school?

I did a BE/ME Engineering majoring in Mechatronics Engineering. I chose to do a masters so I could do an industry thesis and a few more courses on control systems.

Q: What is the name of your STEM career?

Engineering – Mechatronics

Q: What attracted you to this STEM career?

I always enjoyed taking things apart to see how they work. In year 6 I did Robocup and ever since I’ve loved building robots, tinkering with electronics, 3D printing and generally building things. Engineering looked like a way to do what I already did for fun, but as a job and I liked the idea of helping make people’s lives more efficient, easier or safer. Engineering has a massive impact on all aspects of people’s lives every day.

Q: What is some of the typical work you do in this career?

My job has lots of variety. I am part of the hardware R&D team so I work on designing, testing and building the first prototypes of future product. I spend a lot of time designing PCBs and mechanical parts on the computer.

When the parts come from manufacturers there is usually a lot of debugging work to iron out all issues – which can be super interesting and challenging work. The team I am part of has mechatronics, mechanical and electrical engineers and industrial designers. We also work closely with the product team to make sure the work we’re doing is aligned with the company going forward.

Q: What do you love about your job?

I love problem solving. I also love working in a high-tech sector on new products. What I do at Emesent is on the cutting edge of technology and is sold around the world. The work is also really varied between engineering disciplines, as well as working with people and project planning.

^{_{Try hard on your assessments, even if it doesn’t seem like anyone is looking – then try to take every opportunity you are given. Another important thing is to enjoy it! At university there are tonnes of clubs and events where you will meet people from all backgrounds who like the same things that you do.}}

Joshua Riddell