Jesse Wang

Integration Engineer, Daifuku Oceania
Master of Engineering with Honours (First Class)
Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Mechatronics Engineering

He has always been very curious about the world, says Jesse Wang who studied a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Mechatronics Engineering, followed by a Master of Engineering.

“I’ve always been interested in how the world works. When I was in high school, I excelled in the sciences, and I knew that I wanted to do something technical and new.

“When it was time for uni, I simply applied for all the computer and engineering related degrees and saw which ones got back to me. I hadn’t decided on one specific field at the time, so I went for mechatronics as it was quite a generalist subject.”

Enrolling in AUT’s Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Mechatronics Engineering proved to be the right decision for him.

“I’m extremely happy with my chosen major as it has not only opened many doors in many industries, but also satisfied many of my burning curiosities.”

Seeing results
Seeing a project through to completion is one of the things Jesse enjoyed most about studying engineering.

“The best part of my studies was the satisfaction from pressing the ‘run’ button at the end of my capstone project and seeing everything that my peers and I worked so hard for the whole semester move, without any help from us. Even though the project seemed impossible at first, through hard work, failures and successes everything fell into place. It’s such a great feeling watching the product of your time and effort finally paying off.”

Now working as an integration engineer for Daifuku Oceania, he regularly gets to experience that same feeling.

“In this role, I’m responsible for project administration, technical writing, compliance engineering and automation engineering. I’m very happy to have a job in such a well-known company.”

Opportunities for budding entrepreneurs
For Jesse, another highlight of his time at AUT was participating in the X Challenge competition for aspiring entrepreneurs.

“When I first started my Master of Engineering, I realised how much of uni life I had missed out on during my undergraduate degree because I simply didn’t take opportunities. I made it my goal to take every opportunity that I could that year, and the X Challenge was one of the competitions that I joined.”

His idea was simple: a social enterprise he dubbed ‘Engineers for Conservation’.

“In 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, I became very invested in conservation after I took a free course about it online. It really got me thinking about how I could contribute to the field of conservation through my skillsets and experiences. This inspired ‘Engineers for Conservation’; engineers who support ecological conservation efforts.

“One of the most important lessons I learned from the X Challenge was that it’s never too early to start. Being an entrepreneur was always something I imagined 30-year-old suit-wearing Jesse to be doing. By having that mindset for so many years, I was limiting my potential to try something new. I also learned that you could have the opportunity of a lifetime fly right out of your palms if you aren’t open to it. The networking during this competition directly led me to where I am now.”