Tristan Gill
Naval Architect, Marine Industrial Design
Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Maritime Engineering (Marine and Offshore Engineering)
If you love the ocean and the maritime industry, studying maritime engineering is a great pathway, says Tristan Gill who completed a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Maritime Engineering.
“There’s a huge need for maritime engineers in New Zealand and the world, so jobs are lucrative and pay well. As a naval architect, there are so many different areas I can work in, and the company I work for is wanting me to move to their Australian office to work on a big project in the works. With maritime engineering, there’s endless potential to grow into the sort of engineer you want to be.”
He enjoys working on projects that have a lot of visibility.
“I’m a frontrunner in the company in primarily supporting the Royal New Zealand Navy, along with numerous commercial projects, including offshore wind projects. I’m involved in structural analysis and seakeeping studies, and recently I’ve been leading the technical support for a large project and worked on an electric ferry project.”
An easy decision
Because he always knew that he wanted a career in maritime engineering, Tristan says it was easy to decide what to study at university.
“The Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Maritime Engineering is the only degree offered in New Zealand for maritime engineering. I love boats and the maritime world, so it was a good fit for me. I ended up specialising in marine and offshore engineering and would 100% recommend the degree – it’s highly specialised, so it’s practically aligned with industry.”
He particularly enjoyed the last two years of his studies, when he was based in Launceston, Tasmania.
“My time in Tasmania was amazing. Everybody who went over raved about it and wishes they could have stayed longer. Tasmania is an outdoor adventure playground. The coastline is bare, so we would do a lot of freedom camping in places that had no signs of any humans around. The maritime school is the only place in the southern hemisphere to study the programme, so the uni was full of awesome people from all over Australia.”
Advice for other students
Tristan, who graduated from AUT in 2019, has some great advice for other students who are still unsure which degree to choose.
“My advice is to explore which industry and type of job you want to work in after university. Pick the job and work backwards from there. Be very clear about your goals.”
Make the most of your lecturers’ experience, he adds.
“I had always been clear about where I wanted my path to be, however the maritime engineering lecturers all had a lot of experience in the marine industry. That was inspiring as they had a wealth of experience to share.”
