From mechatronics student to graduate engineer at Mipac: Jake’s story

Share Post:

4 minute read

Jake Minehan always loved gadgets and building things, so it was no surprise that he decided to study mechatronics engineering at university. Now a graduate engineer at Mipac, working with one of the company’s biggest clients, he says on-the-job learning has been vastly different to sitting in a classroom.

We sat down with him to find out why and to learn more about what’s it like to be a graduate engineer at Mipac.

Graduate engineer Jake Minehan and colleagues sitting together at an outdoor table, on the terrace of a high-rise building, eating lunch under the shade of an umbrella
Jake (second from left) enjoying lunch with colleagues on the terrace of the Mipac Brisbane office.

Mipac: Hi, Jake! Thanks for chatting to us. Can you tell us about your studies?

Jake: I studied mechatronics engineering at university, with a minor in robotics. During high school I was interested in robotics and I always loved building things and making little gadgets, so it was fairly logical. Even as a kid I loved building motorised LEGO creations.

Mipac: What exactly is mechatronics?

Jake: I guess it’s a mix of mechanical and electrical engineering, with a bit of software. Which is a great fit for Mipac, actually.

Mipac: And future-focused?

Jake: Yeah, absolutely. I even did two subjects on AI at uni!

Mipac: So how did it feel to graduate and have to find a job?

Jake: I was looking for positions for mechatronics engineers on LinkedIn, found Mipac and noticed the company had roles available. Industrial automation sounded similar to what I’d studied, just on a larger scale, so I thought the kind of work Mipac did sounded interesting.

Mipac: How was the application and onboarding process?

Jake: It must have been smooth because I don’t really remember it, to be honest [laughs]! I remember I had to submit a resume and cover letter and go through two rounds of interviews before being offered the position.

Mipac: And what’s it like working as a graduate engineer in the real world compared with what you learnt at university?

Jake: It’s extremely different! I feel like a lot of important things were glossed over at university, as we were so focused on theory and calculations. At work, we don’t do many calculations at all – we have programs that do that for us. There are more practical elements too when you’re on the job, like choosing a piece of hardware and deciding between vendors. Most of what I’ve learnt has been on the job, though uni gave me the fundamentals.

Left photo: group of people posing for a photo in half smart dress, half Christmas dress. Right: Jake, graduate engineer, wearing a 3d-printed gold crown.
Left: Jake posing with the operations team at the 2023 Mipac Christmas party; Right: Jake wearing a 3D-printed crown created by one of his Mipac colleagues.

 Mipac: And how have you found the culture at Mipac?

Jake: It’s great, there are lots of experienced people here and everyone is helpful and keen to see me succeed. I think overall Mipac has a big culture of continuous learning. No one is a specialist in everything so there is a lot of collaboration between team members and projects. And there’s basically a specialist in house for any kind of control system.

Mipac: Operations is a busy team. How do you go about getting help when you need it?

Jake: It’s fairly informal, mostly. I might just send a message [on Microsoft Teams] and say, ‘When you have time, could you run through this with me?’ Once the person is free, they’ll call me or come over to chat. I do feel like I sometimes ask too many questions [laughs]. But there are lots of people to ask, so if someone is too busy, I can usually find someone else.

Mipac: How would you describe Mipac to other graduate engineers looking for roles?

Jake: I would say that Mipac is the perfect place for a graduate because you’re learning so much – and I guess that’s the goal during these early years.

 

Mipac: How is the graduate program structured?

Jake: You get the opportunity to work across different teams and try different things. I’ve been in a couple of different teams now and on several different projects, including a project with Ok Tedi and some data-historian work with the digital solutions team.

Mipac: Any highlights?

Jake: I enjoyed the electrical work I was doing early on, so now I am doing more of that. The team I work with now on the Ok Tedi project are also a great bunch of people and lots of fun to work with.

Mipac: So what are your long-term career aspirations?

Jake: I’m not sure about long-term, but in the short-term I’d love to do some site work. I think that’s where I’ll gain a lot of knowledge.

Mipac: Thanks for taking the time to chat to us!

Jake: No worries!

Want to read more staff stories?

Check out the articles below or head to our Careers page for more.

Subscribe

Enter your details to receive our newsletter

Simply fill out the below form and we will be in touch to discuss the best time for a demonstration.

Request a
Demonstration

Simply fill out the below form and we will be in touch to discuss the best time for a demonstration.

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our TCard brochure.

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our MPA product guide.

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our SMART Tankhouse brochure.

Download our Capability Statement

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our Capability Statement.

[contact-form-7 id="7624"]

Download our OT Vision to Delivery brochure

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our Capability Statement.

[contact-form-7 id="7623"]

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our E-Learning Brochure.

Request a
Demonstration

Simply fill out the below form and we will be in touch to discuss the best time for a demonstration.

[contact-form-7 id="8762"]

Download TCard Case Study

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of the MIM Case Study.

[contact-form-7 id="8768"]

Register for Webinar

Simply fill out the below form and we will send you the details of the webinar directly to your email.

[contact-form-7 id="8833"]

Request a
Demonstration

Simply fill out the below form and we will be in touch to discuss the best time for a demonstration.

Request a
Demonstration

Simply fill out the below form and we will be in touch to discuss the best time for a demonstration.

Simply fill out the below form and we will be in touch to discuss the best time for a demonstration.

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our TCard™ product guide.

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our MPA Logsheets product guide.

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our Digital TARP product guide.

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our Capability Statement.

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our ShortMeter product guide.

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you our Copper Monitor™ product guide.

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our SMART Tankhouse product guide.

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our Alarm Manager product guide.

Simply fill out the below form and we will be in touch to discuss the best time for a demonstration.

Simply fill out the below form and we will be in touch to discuss the best time for a demonstration.

Simply fill out the below form and we will be in touch to discuss the best time for a demonstration.

Simply fill out the below form and we will email you a copy of our Copper Monitor brochure.