Engineering a great career: with plenty of variety and 40 experienced staff to learn from Jonathan Wilkie is going from strength to strength.

As a young person who loved working with his hands, Jonathan Wilkie got off to a flying start at Universal Engineering.

He got a taste for engineering at Universal as part of Gisborne Boys High School’s  Gateway programme in year 11.  He began his National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering at EIT the following year. Jonathan is turning into a really competent tradesperson, says Universal Engineering company director Phil Matthews.

“EIT turns out really high quality apprentices. He’s got good attitude and once he has his trade I think he’ll go a long way in the industry. We pride ourselves on doing everything, from small jobbing work to large mechanical design and build projects. He’s been doing a lot of heavy engineering but he also has the ability to turn his hand to lighter architectural work as well.”

Now 20, Jonathan is relishing the learning journey that has opened up to him.

“EIT’s programme was a good balance of theory and practical. I’ve always been a hands-on person, mucking around building stuff at home. There’s a lot of variety at Universal Engineering and you never stop learning in a trade – there are always new tricks to learn.”