Emma Regos
Bachelor of Materials Engineering (Hons) and Bachelor of Biomedical Science
Are there any other notable experiences from your time at Monash you’d like to share?
I have had a few notable experiences from my time at Monash. I was fortunate enough to do two semesters abroad, one at Clarkson University, and one at the University at Buffalo. I was able to meet wonderful people who I still consider close friends and have wonderful experiences. These opportunities were made possible by the exchange program at Monash and the support I received from both faculty and the study abroad office.
I also enjoyed all my volunteering opportunities at Monash. I couldn't pick one activity that I enjoyed the most, however meeting new people and being able to have a positive impact in the Monash community was what I enjoyed. Whether it was volunteering in host scheme camps or helping shape the Materials Engineering community. I was a part of the committee of MatES as both Secretary then President, implementing new roles within the committee to promote inclusiveness of younger students and international students.
If you could tell your graduate self one piece of career advice what would it be and why?
It doesn’t matter where you begin in your career. Apply for as many opportunities as possible even if you don’t think you would be a perfect fit. Aspects of jobs you may think you aren’t suited to may become the part of the job you really enjoy. Utilise as many resources at uni as possible including the careers office. Also, ask as many questions as you can both in the interview process and when you land your role, especially early on. You will learn much faster and become a better employee if you demonstrate you are willing to learn.
What are the top 3 skills you need in your role as a Research Technician?
3 skills I need as a Research Technician are:
- Critical thinking
- Adaptiveness
- Team work
These skills are important in research, as you go into a project not knowing the answer to the problem. You may have an educated guess of how the parts you are trying to make are going to work out, however there are problems that always arise and surprise you.
Tell us about your experience since leaving Monash: how has you career progressed to date? Any professional achievements you’d like to share?
My journey since leaving Monash has been quite rewarding. I was working at Continental Contitech (a rubber conveyor belt manufacturer) straight out of university and spent 2.5 years there as a quality engineer and rubber compounder. Arriving at a factory as a young female engineer certainly posed challenges, however I had a great immediate team in which I was able to learn new skills and eventually slot well into the rest of the factory. What I found rewarding was R&D in the rubber formulation to improve our existing rubber formulations and creating a database to improve reporting and allowing supervisors to then track the downtime and ensure they are able to do data analysis easily.
Since then, I was offered a role at CSIRO in the Cold Spray team. Cold Spray is an additive manufacturing process using metal powder. The process involves accelerating metal powder at supersonic speeds at a substrate, where the metal particles deform and bond together. Moving into research in the Cold Spray team has enabled me to work mostly on commercial projects where many of my strengths and interests lie, including tackling manufacturing problems faced in Australia. The work culture at CSIRO has been a great fit so far, where all the staff have been extremely supportive and inclusive.
What are some of your passions and interests?
Outside of work, I really enjoy playing tennis and soccer and play both competitively.