Electronics engineer Vance Takiguchi’s love for robotics started early and now he’s helping others find their path
Vance was lucky enough to start working with robotics in Year 4 when he joined Macquarie University’s FIRST Robotics club. From there he was hooked, joining another robotics program and eventually landing a scholarship to do a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), with a specialisation in mechatronics at Macquarie.
While the robotics club supported his degree, Vance says his involvement in these clubs reaped even more rewards even more when it came time for him to join the workforce.
“The main thing I got from those programs was a problem-solving mindset and skills that I use in my work,” Vance says.
“While in university I also had the opportunity to coach in a video game professionally. This is something that I am very happy about because I don’t think many people get that chance!”
Vance is now an electronics engineer at CEE HydroSystems, a company that manufactures equipment for underwater surveys, where he works on self-driving boats!
“My work consists of developing anything that moves (servos and motors) and the autopilot,” he says.
Vance is also still a keen supporter of robotics comps, volunteering as a mentor and helping kids to build robots and compete on the national stage against teams from all around the world.
Vance’s study and career path
- Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronics, Robotics and Automation Engineering), Macquarie University
- Robotics instructor, Knox Grammar School
- Robotics mentor, FIRST Team 3132
- Electronics engineer, CEE HydroSystems
This article was produced in partnership with Macquarie University and originally appeared in Careers with STEM: Engineering 2024.
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