I finished my Bachelor of Engineering Technology from Wintec last year. After that I was working as an operator for a different company but wanted to step it up a bit. I got a call from Sealed Air who wanted my help with a project, and that lead into this cadetship.

My role will change throughout the cadetship. Lately I have been working to support the laboratory. I receive test requests, conduct physical tests in the lab, and follow this with chemical separation analysis if needed depending on the different melting temperature of the polymer. We are testing the physical and chemical properties of the film. We are looking for things like the mechanical strength, how smooth the film is, if there are any impurities, and we also measure the oxygen and moisture transfer capability.

Then we take this analysis and use it for different applications (or packaging different items). For example, let’s say you want to package chicken – chicken would use a film with a high oxygen barrier in order to keep your food fresh.

I used to think plastic was just plastic. Working here has helped me to realise the variation and thought processes behind everything. Learning about the different layers of sealing items. I am always thinking about this – even sometimes when I’m about to go to sleep or even in the shower!

I love formula one racing. Because of that, I always wanted to learn about cars. Once I got into that I wanted to dig deeper into automobiles and so I thought engineering would be a good path to go down and pursued my course of study.

I got this role right after I graduated which is a blessing. I used to think understanding plastics was difficult but when I started at Sealed Air the people were so friendly and made it easy for me to understand. The people and the simplicity of the job prompted me to actually make a career out of this.

Every day brings something new. Things happen around the workplace that make me think – wow, I never thought about that! Imagine eating the same food over and over again – you get sick of it. The work we do is always evolving and I don’t always expect what a new day will bring.