Eric Bendtsen

Where were you born and raised? 
I was born at the now demolished women’s hospital in Carlton. I grew up in the outer north-east Melbourne suburb of Diamond Creek. My parents, and some extended family, built the house that we lived in. I’m the oldest of three children; we’re spaced about two years apart from each other. I had a fantastic childhood, full of family camping trips, bike rides and footy. 

When did you know you wanted to be an engineer, and why? 
I didn’t know it at the time, but as a kid I was probably destined to be an engineer. I loved building train sets, building rollercoasters for marbles to roll down, building sandcastles etc. I never had much interest in playing with these things. Once they were built and proven to work, I got bored! 

At school I always liked physics, and maths to a lesser extent. I went to Melbourne Uni, which had adopted the “Melbourne Model” of a generalist undergraduate degree (Bachelor of Science, for me) followed by a two-year Masters. At the end of my first year of my undergraduate, I decided that following pure physics was going to be too difficult, so I chose engineering.  

Some great lecturers and some helpful advice from others steered me down the path of electrical engineering. 

What were the biggest challenges for you when studying engineering at university? Maths. At the start, it was my best subject. By the end of uni, the maths got really tricky. It also took a while to establish friendships, but thankfully they are enduring friendships with great people I still catch up with today. 

Looking back and considering what you have learned since you were at uni, what advice would you give those about to start their undergrad engineering degrees? 
Find out what sorts of work you can do with an engineering degree (construction, engineering consulting, management consulting, manufacturing, product development, asset management etc.). Figure out what sorts of things you’re interested in and what you’re good at. Pick your subjects to match the above.