Wintec wāhine inspire next generation

Aspiring wāhine gained insight into a variety of potential trades and engineering career pathways at Wintec’s Wāhine in Trades and Engineering event last week.

Wāhine in Trades and Engineering event panel (L-R): Seymohn Bethwaite, Renee Johnston, Amy FitzPatrick, Theresa Longuet-Higgins, Donna Williams, Sasha Devia

Hosted at Wintec’s Rotokauri Campus, the event provided an excellent opportunity for attendees to hear from and engage with an inspiring panel of women excelling in their respective areas of trades and engineering.

Event organiser Amy Opperman, Team Manager for Plumbing and Industrial Measurement Controls at Wintec’s Centre for Trades, said it was fantastic to see so many enthusiastic wāhine interested in starting careers in the trades and engineering.

“We are thrilled with the turnout and positive feedback from people who came along. Events like this really help to break down barriers and inspire women to consider trades and engineering careers.

“It is great to celebrate our wāhine Wintec graduates, students, and the Waikato businesses that proudly employ them. Joining these forces together with the sponsors of the event, who really get in behind them, is powerful as it sends a message to wāhine that the opportunities are there,” Amy said. 

The event featured a panel of six inspiring women—four are proud Wintec graduates, one is a current student, and two also employ graduates from Wintec. Each has carved out a unique and successful career path in their respective fields. Panellists included:

• Theresa Longuet-Higgins, second-year Plumbing Apprentice with J T Carter – Wintec graduate
• Renee Johnston, third-year Carpentry Apprentice with Hispec Construction – Wintec student
• Amy FitzPatrick, Business Owner of Pink Sparky – Wintec graduate and employer
• Seymohn Bethwaite, Civil Engineer with Downer – Wintec graduate
• Donna Williams, Founder of Gumdrops Desserts – Employer
• Sasha Devia, third-year Mechanical Engineering Apprentice with TRT – Wintec graduate

Renee Johnston, third-year carpentry apprentice with Hispec Construction and proud mum, wants to inspire more women to take up trades.

“I’m proud to be a woman in the trades… My advice to young people in the trades is to be hungry for knowledge and keep asking questions,” Renee said.

Renee is no stranger to hard work. She shared how she continued working, gibbing homes and taking on various tasks up to 35 weeks into her pregnancy.

Renee Johnston, third-year Carpentry Apprentice with Hispec Construction, shares her journey of being a woman in the trades. 

Sasha Devia, a third-year Mechanical Engineering Apprentice with TRT, graduated from Wintec’s Automotive Engineering course with merit in 2021. She is now TRT's first-ever female apprentice.

“I am very proud to be the first female apprentice at TRT… I genuinely love what I do, it’s so exciting... I have had so much support from TRT,” Sasha said.

Maria Pearce, Hamilton Girls High School Pathway Coordinator, attended the event and brought along her students.

“It was awesome. Loved the format, and our students that attended got so much out of it. We will be bringing more next year. Such a worthwhile, amazing event,” Maria said.

Wintec proudly supports diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and this event is just one of the many initiatives aimed at fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for all.

The Wintec event was made possible by the following sponsors: The Toolshed, Plumbing World, Titus Consulting Engineers, and New Zealand Certified Builders.

Wintec offers a wide range of courses and qualifications to help students achieve their career goals, to see what’s on offer, head to wintec.ac.nz/study-at-wintec

Are you a Wintec trades or engineering graduate or student interested in sharing your story with aspiring wāhine? Applications to join the panel for 2025 are now open. To register your interest, email, info@wintec.ac.nz