UTS ENGINEERING SOCIETY x GOLDFISH & BAY | CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN UNIVERSITY AND INDUSTRY
There are parts of becoming an engineer that are difficult to understand until you are actually working alongside other engineers. What employers notice when graduates apply for their first role, how much technical ability matters compared with communication, whether it is better to specialise early or explore different disciplines, and what the transition from university into consulting actually feels like are all things that become clearer through conversations with people already doing the work.
That was the purpose of our evening with UTS Engineering Society. Rather than a traditional industry presentation, we wanted students to hear from people at different stages of an engineering career.
Our Hydraulic, Mechanical, Electrical and Fire teams were represented by undergraduate and graduate engineers, senior engineers and team leaders, giving students the opportunity to hear how perspectives can change depending on someone’s discipline, experience and career path.
The conversation went beyond landing that first job, touching on what makes young engineers stand out, when to specialise, the value of networking and what the industry will expect from the next generation.
What we enjoyed most was that the conversation did not finish when the panel did. Students stayed afterwards and sought out engineers working in the areas they were interested in, turning the discussion into more individual conversations about their studies, career decisions and the disciplines they were considering.
For Goldfish & Bay, that is where university engagement becomes genuinely valuable. We want students to get closer to the industry, meet the people doing the work and understand that there is no single path through an engineering career. There is also plenty our team can learn from the questions and ideas of the next generation entering the profession.
A sincere thank you to Nicole Paligies, Ted Cosgrove, Yudi Shipurkar (StudIEAust), Tavleen Bhullar, Kirsten Stathak, University of Technology Sydney, and the entire UTS Engineering Society team for welcoming us so warmly and bringing the evening together. And thank you to every student who joined us, asked questions and made the conversation what it was.
A huge thank you to our Goldfish & Bay team for giving their time and sharing their experience.
This was our first event together, but it has already given us plenty of ideas about what university and industry could do next. We are looking forward to continuing our relationship with UTS Engineering Society and building on what we started in that room.
We captured some of the evening on film too. Watch the Reel on our Instagram and follow along to see what comes next: https://lnkd.in/eaZKSWts
