“[It] helps you see yourself as an engineer”: Rebecca Viney on her role as a volunteer student ambassador

Rebecca Viney is in her final year studying Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Curtin University. She volunteers as a student ambassador for Engineers Australia, creating opportunities for students and encouraging them to engage with engineering.

“I wanted to be part of an engineering community well before I graduated. That became even more important as COVID cut us off from each other.

The opportunity to volunteer as a student ambassador for EA helped me to do that, and to promote that same opportunity to other students.

My role is to encourage students to connect to industry, and that’s extremely valuable. For me, that connection to industry has provided me with insight into what various engineers do. So, when I go looking for opportunities or when I’m talking to students about their future careers, I can do it with a good level of knowledge.

I’ve managed to do internships with Woodside Energy and with Fortescue Future Industries. These have come about partly because of the networks volunteering has introduced me to. Those networks have provided me with knowledge and communication skills.

Student volunteering helps you see yourself as an engineer. It helps you talk to people in the profession, figure out what your interests are and understand what type of engineer you could be.”

Read more about Engineers Australia’s volunteers here.