Did you know June 23rd is International Women in Engineering Day? To celebrate we catch up with some of the women of Reach Robotics for a quick Q&A.
Having attended the University of Auckland, Yige brings her Mechatronics expertise to our team from New Zealand. As an experienced Project Engineer, she has an interesting background in configuring automation and control systems as well as testing capacitive sensors to measure body movements. Outside of work, she likes to crochet, take film photos and play DnD.
What do you love about your role at BPL?
I mostly spend time adding functionality to Reach Control, and lately I’ve also been working on automation tools for Production. It’s super challenging, and I get to learn something new every day. Also robots are really cool.
What has been a personal or career highlight or achievement you’re proud of?
When I got invited to judge the Robogals science competition last year! Robogals is an international student-run organisation that aims to inspire, engage and empower young women to consider studying engineering and related fields.
Beidi is a Production Technician on our Reach Alpha line who loves bushwalking and doing craft in her spare time. Recently, Biedi has been building accessories, including Reach Tilt, Reach light and Cameras for both Alpha and Bravo. She also works on troubleshooting returned damaged products. Before working at Reach Robotics, Beidi was a mobile phone technician.
What were your first impressions of working at BPL?
The people who work here are very friendly, and the working environment feels comfortable and professional. Our products are used in extreme environments, so everything we make must be precise. Because of this, we focus on quality, not quantity. It is how I prefer to work.
What has been a personal or career highlight or achievement you’re proud of?
I’m proud of my improvement of our productions procedures and helping the team to test & revise the design of our products.
After studying Biomedical Science at home in Ireland, Kate worked for a Pharmaceutical Company, eventually in Quality Assurance. It’s from here she came to Reach Robotics, where she works on our Reach Alpha production line and Reach Alpha inventory. Outside of work, she loves camping and being outdoors.
What were your first impressions of working at BPL?
It’s a very friendly and welcoming environment.
What do you find challenging about it?
Having come from pharmaceuticals, I have less experience in this area. This can be a bit challenging however the team are very supportive and helpful with any question or query that I may have. I also love the satisfaction of seeing all the components being built into a final product.
Jo is our Office Manager extraordinaire, keeping the office ship-shape and enabling us all to do our best work. Jo previously worked at The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia where she managed the unforeseen shift to online exams during the first year of the pandemic. She enjoys live theatre and musicals and finding interesting cafes. During the pandemic, this shifted to embroidery, baking and mechanical keyboards!
What do you love about your role at BPL?
I like being able to find neat solutions to problems, and just being part of a company that is always shifting and growing.
What do you find challenging about it?
Sometimes there are no neat solutions, and learning how to build systems from scratch is challenging.
