Having already established a career in Engineering, Laura Greenaway’s decision to leave her job and move to Invercargill to study full-time at Southern Institute of Technology, was a sacrifice. However, her choice has propelled her into a role she loves, leaving her more than satisfied.
Laura, who was born and raised in the UK, immigrated to New Zealand with her family in her teens. One of the reasons the family came to New Zealand was because of the cost of gaining a university education. “It’s even more expensive in the UK,” Laura says.
She joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 2014, working as an Aircraft Mechanic for four years. During this time, Laura discovered she had an aptitude for engineering. “When I was working I would encounter everyday problems, and we would look at solutions to fix them. I wanted to be able to solve those problems.” Laura made a start with a diploma while in the air force, however, she could only take one paper per semester, so it was slow progress. “It would have taken me six years to complete a diploma and about 10 years for a degree,” she says. “I wanted to pick up the pace.”
After the 2020 lockdown, Laura decided to relocate from Auckland to Invercargill to study full-time at SIT, enrolling in the Bachelor of Engineering Technology programme. “It made sense. It was much more affordable to do the degree in the south,” Laura explains. This did mean leaving behind her partner and family, but she was committed.
The two things Laura had heard about Southland prior to moving were, “there’s really good southern hospitality and it’s cold. Both were true,” she laughs, “but we had amazing summers”.
Describing SIT’s engineering degree as “really broad”, Laura said students learn the basics from ‘what is force?’, all the way to fluid mechanics and computer coding.
The value of attending a smaller polytechnic – in comparison to the larger, urban centres – benefited Laura’s studies over the two years. “Quite easily and quite freely, you can have that one-on-one contact with the tutor,” she said. There was also more in-class discussion, and they would talk things through as they learned.
“I actually felt I came out with a better understanding of engineering because of that discussion. You weren’t just a number. At SIT you got to know the tutors personally - the real person - which was cool.” If students had further questions, they could also go to the tutor's office and have a chat with them. “They would know you by name,” she added.
This experience at SIT changed some of Laura’s thinking. “I had always thought of going to the biggest place, or the recommended university (engineering students usually go to Auckland or Canterbury). You think you need to go there.” However, “no-one’s looked down on me because of where I got my qualification; it’s made me think a bit more about not to judge people from where they study.”
Laura believes by not going through the bigger universities she’s avoided the cookie-cutter learning experience. She’s had the freedom to do her own thing and think differently in her problem-solving; that independent thinking gives her an advantage. Laura’s innovative thinking came to the fore when her second-year project, ‘Improvement and Standardisation of Horseshoe Washer’, won first place in the NZDE (New Zealand Diploma in Engineering) Engineering Project National Competition.
Laura’s favourite parts of the programme were the Engineering Project and Project Management papers. “SIT was pretty cool. You could come up with your own project idea and take ownership over it. You could tell the tutor your idea and be able to justify it.”
What she particularly enjoyed was being able to use her knowledge and apply it to something she was interested in. “What that feeds into,” she explained, was being able to take a project and be working towards things “you wanted to do in the real world, shoring up your future. It was really valuable and practical.”
“I’m now a Project Engineer at NDY and a lot of those lessons have been applied from day one.”
Laura says it has broadened her perspectives and she now has a greater appreciation of rural NZ. “I loved my time in the south.” it was an enriching experience and a highlight studying with international students, getting to know them, their culture and background.
Laura became the Student Ambassador for Engineering NZ, which involved her in organising events, such as the speed interviewing event, which helps students practice their interviewing skills and connect with the local industry before they graduate. “There were heaps of opportunities for networking,” she says.
The course highlight for Laura was achieving her final project presentation. “It was super rewarding completing it. It was a satisfying feeling.” Laura received the Invercargill City Council Award for her role as Engineering New Zealand SIT Student Ambassador. “Winning the award was a major highlight and the icing on the cake.”
Laura says the big challenge of her time studying was being on her own in Invercargill. Missing her partner and family made her “a bit miserable”, but it allowed her to fully focus on her studies. Also exiting the workforce for two years, then juggling part-time work with her studies was an exercise in time management.
As she qualified for a SIT Accommodation allowance in her first year, Laura says she didn’t have to worry so much about working, which was really helpful. In terms of affordable living, she added it’s easier in Invercargill than anywhere else in the country.
Laura completed her degree in June 2023, and returned to Auckland to start a role with NDY (Norman Disney and Young) a building services consultancy, where she is a Project Engineer. Straight off the bat, she was using her qualification and directly applying what she had learned at SIT, including heating load calculations for air conditioning, project management, technical report writing and using CAD software applications. “There’s a big shift towards sustainability in the industry, which we studied at SIT, and I’ve found I’ve been able to contribute to those conversations as well.”
Laura says she would love to become a chartered engineer, a goal which is well within her reach. “Obviously I would have never been able to have done this without the degree from SIT. It’s opened those doors up to me. I’m very grateful and super stoked I made the decision to study there.”
By going down a less traditional pathway and attending SIT, Laura has carved her own path, appreciating the advantages it’s provided. Little to no student debt is a huge win, and she pointed out SIT’s smaller class sizes made the whole experience a lot less intimidating. “For women wanting to get into engineering, if you’re the only woman in a class of 10, that’s way less intimidating than being the only woman in a class of 50.”