United Machinists delighted with new Cadetship

Dunedin-based company United Machinists is singing the praises of our mechanical engineering students, after welcoming first year Aleks Hay onboard as their first ever cadet.

The world-leading company produces precision parts for the aerospace, electronics, automotive, medical and marine industries.

Aleks joined the team ealier this year through the new United Machinists Cadetship, a four-year fully-sponsored programme that culminates in a Bachelor of Applied Engineering Technology.

After gaining work experience through an engineering programme at high school, Aleks is now working under the company's senior quality inspector Andrew Nicolson to develop the practical skills to complement his studies, setting him up for a strong future in the field.

This is a new programme for both Otago Polytechnic and United Machinists, and is an exciting opportunity to combine classroom learning with real-world industry experience.

Sarah Ramsay, CEO of United Machinists, says the company are "fans" of Otago Polytechnic students, having had at least a dozen ākonga through the doors for work experience over the last three years.

They're currently hosting two other students - Yosef Yehezkely and Greg Clarkson - for work experience, while two recent graduates - Callum Scott and Jared Sim - were employed as full-time manufacturing process engineers.

"We call them our whizz-kids and it's been so successful that we thought it was time to formalise things," says Sarah.

"We're really stoked to have Aleks on board as our first ever Cadet."

"Otago Polytechnic made it super easy to pull this together too. It's a fantastic outcome for everyone and I hope we can take at least 1-2 cadets every year going forward."

Sarah says the young workers play key roles in onboarding new technology such as the company's robots and 3D printers, while working with the team to automate traditional manufacturing processes, and becoming "pretty proficient machinists themselves".

Thanks to United Machinists for their support of our ākonga, and to our students for being great representatives of Otago Polytechnic in the local workplace.