Melbourne trained for F&P

Australian recruit Heather Cunningham. Photo by Gregor Richardson.
Australian recruit Heather Cunningham. Photo by Gregor Richardson.
Heather Cunningham (26) was finishing her degrees in product design, engineering and mechanical engineering in Melbourne when a friend told her Fisher & Paykel Appliances was advertising jobs in Dunedin.

She applied for the job and got it, arriving straight after graduation about 18 months ago. Six months after she arrived, her partner arrived to carry out postgraduate study in mathematics.

''I knew F&P as a company. Like here, everyone has F&P appliances in their homes.''

Ms Cunningham works in a team designing parts of cooking appliances such as racks, controls and roasting dishes.

She oversaw the project which designed and produced standard shelf and side racks for an oven. She saw the project through to the final design, including finding the correct wire supplier, and ensuring the chrome work was ''just right'', the product felt good to handle and was sturdy.

The technical design work included knowing where the tool marks would be and ensuring they were not so apparent as to spoil the appearance.

Ms Cunningham likes the job and likes Dunedin. She and her partner are finding their niche in the city while making new friends.

''Everything is easy to get to when you are living here. When I had the interview, I knew they were working in the centre of town but hills with snow on were just out the window. You don't have to go very far to get away from it all.''

 

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