From bike shops to blueprints, Declan finds his future in mechanical engineering

Declan Wilcock spent seven years in the workforce and two years living overseas before he settled on mechanical engineering.

The 26-year-old from Te Awa Kairangi (Lower Hutt) is now studying the New Zealand Diploma in Engineering (Mechanical) at Whitireia and WelTec, and says going back to study has been one of the best decisions he has made.

The decision came while he was living in Scotland. Engineering had always been in the family, but that’s when Declan says he realised it was a career he wanted for himself.

“I stopped worrying about doing something different and started focusing on what I actually enjoyed,” he says. “That’s when I realised engineering was the right path for me.”

Learning on the workshop floor

A keen mountain biker, Declan went straight from school into bike shops. He spent several years there learning mechanics, design and problem-solving while keeping customers’ bikes on the trail.

“The bike industry taught me how engineering works,” he says. “You learn to look beyond the problem itself and think about why it happened and who will be using the solution.”

His father and brother both work in engineering. “Conversations about engines and how things work were a regular part of growing up,” Declan says. “Those discussions sparked my curiosity and helped me understand the systems and processes that keep the world moving.”

In Scotland he completed SolidWorks training, a computer-aided design package, and started helping with drafting work for his father’s engineering company.

Study alongside the job

Back in New Zealand, Declan studies while working part time as a product development engineer, so classroom learning goes straight into real projects.

“Study has helped me understand the ‘why’ behind the work I’ve been doing,” he says. “Experience teaches you a lot, but study gives you the theory and bigger-picture thinking that connects everything together.”

Juggling assignments, work and deadlines can be demanding, he says, and the support of kaiako and classmates has helped.

“I didn’t expect to find tutors who care so much about your success,” he says. “There are genuinely great people here who want to see you do well.”

His projects so far include a CAD assembly made up of hundreds of components and a set of engineering drawings for a local lifting rig project.

Declan has a particular interest in metallurgy, the science of metals and how they behave, and hopes to combine his technical skills with running a business of his own one day.

“What excites me most is finding better solutions to the challenges we’ve inherited,” he says. “Engineering has the power to create real change, and that’s something I want to be part of.”