Engineering a brighter future at the University of Canterbury

UC Engineering graduate Quinlan Meyerink

Quinlan Meyerink is a recent University of Canterbury (UC) graduate, having completed his Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2020. He is now employed as a Building Services Engineer at WSP, a global enginering and professional services consulting firm.

“Work as a building services engineer involves the design of critical building systems such as electricity, lighting, air conditioning and so on. Currently I have been working, with most of my team, on a refurbishment of the Kiwirail depot in Dunedin. I am also involved in some school rebuilds and extensions. The site visits for these school projects have been incredibly rewarding – seeing your designs being built and to see kids enjoying their new facilities has been awesome.”

“The immediate answer to this question is it helped me get this job, however the skillset I’ve gained extends far past the technical knowhow that is required. My time at UC has shown me how to communicate with others, how to be self-driven, and I’ve certainly learnt to function under pressure. The things we learn far exceed the extent of the syllabus.”

“The embedded system papers at UC were most definitely my favourite. I was hooked from the moment I saw a helicopter take off, controlled by code I’d written. Following on from that my favourite lecturer had to be [UC’s Director of Computer Engineering] Le Yang, who took some

of the embedded classes. He was incredibly informative, however very down to earth and approachable. His stories were also fantastic.”

“I learnt that everyone is human. Especially in my first two years of university, lecturers seemed these incredibly intelligent (which they are) individuals who were out of reach. This led me to not engage with them on a one-on-one level. However, at one point I was struggling on a project and sent the lecturer an email asking for help. They invited me along to their office and we talked through the work. This experience made me much more comfortable to talk to other lecturers. This lesson has followed me into my work life, where I am much more confident to talk to my superiors for advice and help. People are a lot more down to earth than we think, and for the most part are very happy to help.”

“My advice is to get involved in extracurricular activities. The clubs at UC are fantastic, catering to every want and need of students. It also looks fantastic on the CV to show you’re a well-rounded individual. I think within engineering we get caught up too much on grades to get jobs, but taking the time to enjoy University life and get involved is great, and will look good on a CV.” My time at UC has shown me how to communicate with others, how to be self-driven, and I’ve certainly learnt to function under pressure. The things we learn far exceed the extent of the

syllabus.” — Quinlan Meyerink, UC Engineering graduate

Students at work in UC’s Electrical Engineering lab

If you enjoy mathematics and science, figuring out how things work, and working with other people to solve complex problems then you should consider a career as a professional engineer. UC offers a full range of engineering disciplines: Chemical and Process Engineering Civil Engineering Computer Engineering Electrical and Electronic Engineering Forest Engineering Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering Natural Resources Engineering Software Engineering The Engineering degree at UC is flexible, allowing you to keep your options open during your first year before deciding on your chosen discipline. The degree balances first-class theoretical education with practical project and industry experience, leading to promising job prospects after graduation.

Learn more about studying Engineering at UC: https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/engineering/