Feature | Interview
Starting a career by going the extra mile Going from study to an exciting career is what every engineering student hopes for, and Noi Kotev did just that
Noi was one of the SAE-A’s interns during 2021 and as many of the association’s engineers will be aware she reported on the viability of Australian engineered zero emission vehicles. As a mechanical engineering student, she saw the potential of gaining practical experience and contacts for her career move in 2022.
Noi is also in the powertrain team working on Swinburne University’s Formula SAE-A car – she threw herself wholeheartedly into chasing prospects for the right job. That came about through the SAE-A’s online careers expo during which she caught the attention of PACCAR engineer Claudia Bautista, Engineering Operations Manager.
“I made some really good contacts, but on top of that, the content itself is things that I love. I’m passionate about automotive, obviously. I think zero emissions is, of course, the future,” Noi explained.
Not long after, she found herself working full-time as an engineer in the chassis layout team for Kenworth trucks at PACCAR Australia.
“So, looking into the future of that and working with the Society of Automotive Engineers and being able to communicate with engineers, which I never would have the chance to do [without work experience] was just awesome and amazing.” Building on the work done by program director Murray Longe, the SAE-A recruited research interns Noi and Evan Favos – both active Formula SAE-A team members – to do required market research. Noi was then in her penultimate year of Mechanical Engineering (Honours) at Swinburne University of Technology, and passionate about sustainable engineering and the environment. Noi worked with steering group member Jim Griffin, of Multimatic Engineering Australia, to implement a market study proposal he defined for the project. She investigated the market’s needs and aspirations to determine the basic soundness of the SAE-A ZEV project to potential supporters and investors. Realising that it is important to grab all possible opportunities with both hands – 22 | June/July 2022
“I was really lucky that they had an opening in the Kenworth chassis layout team,” said Noi. Explaining why she has fallen in love with the job, she said that not one truck is identical to another, and so there’s an engineering drawing for every single one. And the drawing is essentially what the customer has requested for different components, but she then must take into account what the truck is going to be doing. Because if a truck is going to be carrying fuel or if it’s going to be carrying cattle, it’s going to have different requirements. So, then it’s designed according to that. Enthusiasm is not something that Noi is short on, and her willingness to do extra work has paid dividends and has fed her appetite in discovering and doing more in engineering. Her current passion is working with CAD, virtual reality and augmented reality and she does that in her personal life as well as her work life, saying there could be nothing more rewarding. “I’ll go and learn all different CAD software. It’s just because I love it. And when I come to work, I design a new truck layout,” she said. “If it’s a fuel carrier, maybe a heavy
