Mick Ou, Mechanical Engineer at Imagr

From dreaming of inventing things to change people's lives, Mick is essentially living his dream. As a Mechanical Engineer at Imagr, Mick as found a cutting edge New Zealand tech company that is changing the way we shop. Thanks for sharing, Mick.

Firstly, how would you explain to a five year old what it is you do?

I make cool looking smart boxes that are used to take lots of photos of everything you find in the supermarket and help you buy them quicker and easier. The photos are used to teach computers to recognise everything you find in the supermarket.

And for the adults, what does a typical day-in-the-life of a Mechanical Engineer at Imagr look like?

I provide a link between Imagr’s customers and our software and AI teams via physical representations of Imagr’s tech. We assist our software and AI teams to show off their advanced high-tech supermarket object recognition system.

What this means day-to-day is we collect all the requirements from different teams then create and manufacture cool looking smart shopping trolleys and imaging stations. We do this by utilising CAD (computer aided design) systems; prototyping technologies, such as 3D printing and laser cutting; and traditional manufacturing technologies.

Does working as a Hardware Engineer in a high-tech business differ to your experience working elsewhere?

As a Hardware Engineer it’s quite similar but we do incorporate more high-tech and state of the art components.

What did you dream about doing as a kid ‘when you grew up’?

To invent and build cool stuff that makes people’s lives easier!

Tell us a little bit more about your career journey and ultimately about how you ended up working at IMAGR?

I started off in academia, researching a system that can automatically create assembly instructions of any products using just the data from 3D models of the product.

At the same time was giving lectures to undergraduate mechanical and mechatronics engineers on mechanical design, machines and mechanisms and manufacturing systems.

I then started a conceptual design and build business working on a wide variety of projects that were both high-tech and low-tech.

Once I found out about how Imagr is trying to change the way shopping is done with their high-tech solution, I decided to hop on board!

Can you share some more insight into what the transition into working in a high-tech company was like?

It was a very natural transition, as coming from academia/research and also running a conceptual design business, I have been involved in and exposed to projects that are also in the high-tech industry.

What is it specifically that you like about working Imagr relative to your past jobs?

I have the opportunity to have direct interaction with multiple different teams, and we have a hardworking but still relaxed vibe. Everyone at Imagr is really friendly and approachable!

Lastly, Imagr continues to evolve. What kind of candidates do you think Imagr is looking for in terms of experience, attitude and character?

Have an open mind and innovative approach to hardware engineering - don’t be afraid to try new approaches to different design situations!