Anticipating a huge project rush
Wellington-based structural engineering firm DTCE has awarded a scholarship to a promising engineering student to encourage young people into engineering as an employment pathway.
DTCE is a medium sized Wellington structural and civil consulting engineering firm with 13 engineers.
“While implementation of engineering projects may be temporarily on hold during lockdown, we anticipate a huge rush of projects once alert levels reduce, and we will need all hands on deck,” says Marlo Bromley, director at DTCE.
“The government is looking to infrastructure to boost the economy post-COVID and there will be a pipeline of work to get done – the sector will need a strong bench of grads to help.”
The scholarship worth $3000 was awarded to Daniel Elliot, a final year engineering degree student at WelTec.
“We are a small company and this is a way for us to grow recognition among the pool of future employees,” says Marlo..
“Plus, a scholarship means less need for the student to work and more time to study. It’s also a way of giving back to the community.
“We have had three graduates from WelTec work with us before and we were so impressed with their calibre that we decided to come back to WelTec with our idea for an industry scholarship.
“We put the applicants through a number of surveys and also reviewed their work, we thought Daniel had excellent communication skills, which is what is increasingly required, especially in small firms, and he ticked all of the other boxes,” says Marlo.
Daniel, who attended Upper Hutt College, left school in 2008 and initially wanted to work in the trades.
“I did an automotive spray painting course at WelTec – inspired by Pimp my Ride! The students and tutors were awesome and it was an exciting skill to learn, after that I set about getting a job.
“After a number of years and a few jobs, I decided to study again and completed a Level 3 New Zealand certificate in mechanical engineering, also at WelTec.
“My brother was doing the programme at the time, and I was so impressed with the cool stuff he was doing that I enrolled. My brother now works for Weta Workshop and I’m still impressed with the cool stuff he is doing!
“My tutors at WelTec encouraged me to get a degree level qualification and I enrolled in the Bachelor of Engineering. I finish at the end of this year.
“I am stoked about this award from DTCE, I am particularly excited about the fact that I may have a job opportunity with them, that means a lot. Only, it is bittersweet, as two other applicants were my mates, and I feel bad they missed out.
““While I want to get into employment when I am finished studying and save up for a house, I also feel confident enough to one day try and get my masters or PHD. And I might explore these at WelTec.
““It has taken me awhile to get confident enough to pursue full-time academic study, and WelTec has supported me along the way, makes me realise that there are many routes to degree-level qualification and beyond, and they do not all have to be through university.”
WelTec’s Bachelor of Engineering Technology degree apprenticeship will enable students to remain employed while working towards their degree (Level 7) qualification.
This is the first time in New Zealand that an engineering degree will be offered through an apprenticeship delivery model.