From student to master – Luat’s full circle journey from student to corporate triumph and how he’s now giving back
In early February, the team at Launch Pad met up with our partners-in-crime (or should we say partners-in-innovation), Omron, at their HQ in Silverwater, NSW and at our Kingswood Campus.
Here, we interviewed Western Sydney University Alumni and Omron Business Development Manager, Luat Nguyen on how he paved his own yellow brick road to success with the help of Western – from engineering student to robotics innovation giant, Omron – and how he’s now using that success to pave the way for future students studying at Western Sydney University.
Where it all started for Luat
To truly appreciate this story, though, we must start where Western and Luat Nguyen first met. Luat first embarked on his journey with Western Sydney University as an undergraduate studying a Bachelor of Engineering, Mechatronics at our Kingswood Campus. During his time of study, Luat identified a gap needing to be reconciled, commenting on how his course’s hands-on activities were limited for students.
This perceived gap was shared by other students, as discussed by Professor Richard Yang, Director for Centre of Advanced Manufacturing Technology at Western Sydney University. “From a student’s point of view, normally in class study, they learn a lot of the knowledge from books, textbooks, and lectures but they’re lacking in hands-on skills development… [industry] collaborations really enhance and reinforce this kind of skills development”.
Giving back
Cut to present day, Luat has graduated with his Mechatronics Engineering degree from Western and is now working as Business Development Manager at Omron after working his way up from an Applications Engineer internship where he learned the hands-on element of programming and technical support and shortly after, Sales Engineer to learn the soft skills and build relationships with customers. Now, Luat combines the skills learned in his previous roles, spearheading strategic partnerships and project managing larger opportunities.
It is here, with gained industry expertise and the power and generosity to help future students studying at Western Sydney University, that Luat, through Omron, reached out to Western and re-embarked on his partnership with the university in a new light, giving back to future leaders through a number of collaborated initiatives including a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement between Omron and Western Sydney University signed in 2023 to boost innovation and enhance joint research opportunities in the Western Sydney region, including an advanced manufacturing technology collaboration between ‘Factory of The Future’ at Launch Pad and Omron Automation Technology Centres – a collaboration aimed at addressing national priorities in health, manufacturing and agribusiness through student exposure and hands-on experience of relevant and prevalent emerging technologies.
Introducing Work Integrated Learning
Luat continues to give back to future leaders at Western through co-designed and co-delivered curriculums with Professor Richard Yang, Discipline Leader for Mechanics, Mechatronics and Robotics at Western Sydney University and the ‘Factory of the Future’ team – incorporating Work Integrated Learning into the teaching of both short course 2-credit-point microcredentials like ‘Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots’ and 10-credit-point electives like ‘BUSM2049 Creative & Innovative Thinkers’, offering hands-on and immersive opportunities for students to work alongside robotics and learn about their seemingly endless capabilities across industries as well as alongside industry experts at Omron, like Luat, across the full course of the programs – upskilling students across all disciplines and invaluably preparing them for their future beyond university.
These courses have already received widespread praise from Western students across a whole range of Schools, with students greatly valuing the practical experience and applications of their learnings, feeling more confident and job-ready upon course completion. Luat and his team at Omron are integral to this success; their dedication towards improving the accessibility and exposure of robotics and automation in tertiary education and throughout the industry helping prepare our future leaders for the world of tomorrow.
Through these collaborations, Luat also hopes to remove the stigmatism behind robotics and automation as an advancement to be feared, instead hoping to show students how robots can work in harmony with people to improve operational efficiency and capability in organisations.
Welcome Week festivities
Luat and his team at Omron also joined Launch Pad at our Welcome Week stall, stomping this stigmatism with an innovative Skill Tester machine that exposed new and continuing Western students to a new and engaging application of Cobots in the real-world – using the familiarisation of arcade claw machines in the Skill Tester’s design to engross students and invite them to put their skills to the test, manipulating the Cobot arm to pick up prize balls. With Luat and his team at the event helm to answer all questions about the Cobot Skill Tester and talk about the prevalence of this sort of technology in the workplace, it’s no wonder Omron and their technologies were such a hit with students across both days – the queue to the Launch Pad stall consistently extending around the corner!
For any students inspired by Luat’s journey and interested in joining the Omron team, Omron also give back to future leaders by offering Graduate and Internship Programs across multiple intake periods throughout the year – exposing successful applicants to real industrial processes, formal training, mentorship by engineers, invaluable experience, expansion of industrial control systems, direct project contributions, potential employment opportunities, and strengthened university relationships.