The Engine of The New New Zealand

Engineering and technology

Are you fascinated by how things work? Do you want to add your ideas to make things work better? Do you want to take the latest discoveries and find out how to use them to improve lives or the environment? Then you have the engineering knack.

Kiwis have always been inventive. But today, it’s about more than screwing a few things together and saying ‘she’ll be right’.

There’s huge demand for people with your thinking and engineering training, and there’s a shortage in New Zealand. Massey graduates are often snapped up as soon as they walk off campus (or even before).

Find out more about what sort of a career you might have, and how to do it too. Or check out a current's students experience of studying engineering below.

Engineering and Technology

What careers are available in engineering?

Why engineering is awesome

History of engineering

Leonardo da Vinci. Mr Ingenious himself.

The word “engineer” originated in the eleventh century from the Latin word ingeniator, meaning one with ingenium, the ingenious one.

Those early ingenious people have to be encapsulated by Leonardo da Vinci. In fact his official title was ‘Ingegnere Generale’. So his job was to be ingenious. He was pretty good at his job – inventing the helicopter, solar power etc etc. A lot to live up to!

In his notebooks, he noted that in the Renaissance, the essence of what people like him were trying to do was ask systematically what works and why. Before then, people kind of had a play with ideas and putting things together, but didn’t have much of a process and their learnings weren’t really passed on.

That started changing in Leonardo’s time, and by the 1800s and the Industrial Revolution the notion of an engineer moved from a tinkering inventor to a scientific professional. It’s the basis for how engineers and inventors still develop their ideas today.

In the century before World War II development shifted towards developing electricity, telecommunications, cars, airplanes, and mass production.

Another major shift came as information technology gained momentum, and today microelectronics, computers, and telecommunications is a branch of engineering in itself.

An exciting new emerging area for engineering is nanotechnology, which tackles engineering issues on a molecular scale. One nanometer (nm) is one billionth, or 10−9, of a meter. By manipulating material at the molecular level, its composition can be altered, creating opportunities for new properties of that material to emerge. This work has implications for medical science, electronics and energy production.

Sustainability is also an important consideration in the field of engineering, and all areas of engineering must tackle the long-term impacts of what is being created.

Types of engineering

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it’s an essential trait if you want to get into engineering.

If you have a healthy sense of curiosity and you’re fascinated by how things work (like getting told off when you’ve got the insides of your home theatre system all over your bedroom floor) Massey has heaps of options for you to develop your skills – and take on the world!

• Chemical and Bioprocess engineering
• Electronic/Computer engineering
• Mechatronic engineering 
• Product Design engineering
• Food Technology

What career will I have?

The good news is that the pay for an engineer tends to be good– engineers are in short supply in New Zealand so they are in high demand.

Mechatronic engineer

Almost every industry has need for mechatronic engineers’ skills. What that means is whether your interest is in cars, boats or even going into space there are jobs for you!

Because you get a really broad degree (including studying things like business and marketing) mechatronics graduates often move quickly into positions of greater responsibility including management.

Mechatronics sets you up for a really wide range of occupations such as: project management, industrial automation, product and process design and manufacturing or starting up your own company.

Electronic and Computer Engineer

Being a Systems Engineer is about designing the next generation of computers – or the software that runs on them.

Graduates in electronics & computer engineering can be found in a range of occupations including systems programming, network operations and management, performance analysis and project management.

Chemical /Bioprocess Engineer

With a chemical and bioprocessing major, you might start your career in a technical role in the processing industries. With this degree you’re likely to move quickly into managerial position.

Systems programming, network operations and management, performance analysis and project management are just some of your job options with this major.

There’re also heaps of opportunities with emerging enterprises based on new innovations in biotechnology, nanotechnology and renewable energy.

Product Design Engineer

The skills you learn can lead to jobs in manufacturing, service companies. Perhaps a design consultant, or management. Fields you could go into include things like consumer electronics, software and interactive multimedia, furniture, agriculture, marine, cosmetics, clothing and leisure goods.

How you can do it too

If you’ve got a curious mind, you’re quite keen on the sciences and mathematics and love to figure out how things work, the Bachelor of Engineering (B Eng) at Massey could be right up your alley.

You’ll need to work hard at school, taking physics, mathematics with calculus at school, and achieve at least 16 credits or more at NCEA Level 3. Make sure you’ve got the correct university entrance qualifications to gain entry to Uni.*

Degree options

The Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) is a four year course.

You can choose from the following majors:

• Mechatronics
• Bioprocess/Chemical
• Computers/Electronic
• Product Design
• Food Technology – Food Product Technology or Food Process Engineering majors

In your first year you’ll focus learning about science-based subjects common to all engineering majors, giving you a great base. You’ll also start learning about product innovation.

You’ll build upon this mix of subjects up until your fourth year where you’ll focus on a project of your own. This is in collaboration with a manufacturing company and will put your creativity and new-found knowledge to good use. Check out the 2011 fourth-year student projects from students. Who knows – your first project could also be your first commercial success – it has been for some students. Find out more about why you should choose Massey to study engineering.

*If you are keen to study engineering but haven’t met the requirements for entry to Massey’s programme we are happy to talk with you about options available.

You can also download Your 2013 Guide to Engineering Technology and Construction or get in touch with us if you have more questions.

Why Massey?

If all this has got you excited about taking your own inventions to reality, and coming up with a cool title for your business card, Massey has the courses to take you there.

In your very first year, from your very first day at Massey, you will be involved in practical, world-changing projects.

At Massey’s School of Engineering and Technology (SEAT) we focus on your ability to observe, invent and realise.

That’s backed up by encouraging your own practical experience, like in your first year, where you learn while working on projects that are interesting, challenging and fun. Basically that means you make a difference, first-up.

• Engineers Without Borders – you will work on a real-life project that will have tangible benefits for a third-world community. The project must be realistic, fitting within the social, economic and environmental constraints of the community.
• Design Without Constraints – Future-focussed engineering is what your second first-year project is about. You are challenged to meet a future need, perhaps not yet identified. You’re free to develop products, processes or technologies that you feel will be appropriate at that future time – no need to worry about today’s constraints!

“Massey is a great university from a practical standpoint. Other people who were my peers and who studied engineering at other universities have ended up with a great background in the theory, sums, mathematical principles. But they have been nowhere near as hands-on as at Massey. We got a good grounding in that too, but studying at Massey really taught me how to solve things in the real world. And that’s been a catalyst for inventing Spidertracks.”
James McCarthy, Inventor, Spidertracks

Experience

From film and medical work to manufacturing and agriculture, the team at Massey’s School of Engineering and Technology (SEAT) have a huge range of experience in the real world.

They’re well-known internationally, and have lots of contacts with industry in New Zealand and overseas. That means you’ll graduate with a relevant qualification, that’s internationally-recognised, you might even invent something that saves lives, or changes the world.

And come up with a cool title for your business card!