Recent graduate

How did UCalgary’s Schulich School of Engineering prepare you to be an engineer?

The Schulich engineering program allowed me to tailor my major and minor directly to the career path I wanted to pursue. The variety of options offered are part of why I chose Schulich to begin with, given that I didn’t initially know what I’d want as a specialization. Schulich allowed me to explore many branches of engineering and then take my degree in the direction that I chose.

In terms of the academic curriculum, the depth of hands-on labs enriched my understanding across the board, but the labs related to materials and manufacturing were particular highlights for me. I had the chance to perform my own testing in accordance with ASTM standards with tensile and flexural analysis, and to experience an introduction to manual and CNC machining, welding, and 3D printing all through courses, and then further outside of class. This was instrumental in both my development as a well-rounded engineer and guiding me on my career path.

Outside of classes, Schulich has also provided fantastic support for both the internship program and to engineering competition teams, and I took full advantage of both. I even did my internship placement at Schulich, in the Engineering Machine Shop. As a design intern, I worked with course instructors, researchers, and students to prototype and design new solutions, dove hands-on into the manufacturing side of things, and got to try classroom support through labs and summer sessions.

Starting in my second year, I joined one of Schulich’s engineering competition teams, Schulich Off-Road, which competes in the BAJA SAE Collegiate Design Series. It’s an international competition where engineering student teams design, build and test off-road vehicles each year in a four-day event. I began designing the seat and steering systems, eventually working my way to team captain, with an eighth-place finish (the team’s first time in the top 10) in my final year. I effectively gained four years of experience with an engineering design team as a student, and every interview I’ve had since focuses on these experiences for the immense advantage they gave me at the start of my career.

What were your Schulich School of Engineering highlights?

My experience on a Schulich team and my internship with the machine shop blended together to an extent, as I learned principles of design with the team, learned manufacturing and machining concepts through my internship, and was able to make my own parts through both. I get an immense satisfaction from being able to see a project through from concept to models to prototypes to a completed, functional component. That gets to a whole other level when you have the chance to put your designs to the test and learn from others attempting to tackle the same challenge. Every year with the Baja team, I got to experience this with a new perspective and share it with others.

The Baja team has been the single greatest influence on my development as an engineer thus far. I learned design principles for practical application, spent countless hours with SolidWorks modelling and simulating components and systems, studied principles of vehicle dynamics, and that was just the first part of the season. A common mantra amongst the engineering teams was, “Design, build, race, repeat.” The “build” aspect of that cycle served as my introduction to a whole host of machining and fabrication processes like tube coping, TIG welding, manual and CNC machining, composite layups, and material post-processes like anodizing and nitriding. For Baja, the racing component comes as a four-day international event, with design and sales presentations, a set of four targeted task-events (i.e. hill-climb or maneuverability) and a four-hour endurance race. For four years of my five-year degree, I dedicated almost every waking hour that I didn’t need for coursework to my involvement with the team. I designed a steering system, I machined steering knuckles and bearing carriers, I welded test fixtures, and I learned how to install and bleed a brake system. I learned how to organize a pit crew and analyze test data so we could do it all again better the next year. Beyond that, the camaraderie amongst members of the Baja team, and with people from other Schulich teams, got me through many of the harder parts of my degree. (Huge assignment deadline coming up? You can bet someone else is also trying to tackle a couple questions while their simulation runs. Just got a not-so-great exam mark back? Go grab a beer and talk about suspension geometry for an hour.)

If I had to pick a single moment as the ultimate highlight of my degree, though, it would have to be the moment that I watched our vehicle cross the finish line at the Baja Rochester Competition on June 10, 2019. Ironically enough, this was actually after my graduation ceremony. It was my last year on the team, the end of my second time as team captain, and the culmination of so much more than that. We’d had a few years prior to that where we had mixed results in competition and a few rocky patches amongst the team’s leadership. Earlier that year, we had had difficulty with sponsorships, acquiring supplies, and the departure of a few key members of the team. In January of that year, the team was pretty broken up and divided, and some chose to leave to relieve themselves from the stress of the situation. I can’t blame them for that, but I chose to take that as an opportunity to work through a challenge. We regrouped as a team, re-evaluated our techniques, and came together to achieve things we’d never done before: we competed in two competitions, with the first one a month earlier than our usual timeline. Don’t get me wrong, we didn’t score particularly well in the first competition, but, by that point, we had learned to trust each other and work together and play off each other’s strengths to tackle each problem as it came. By the second competition, we weren’t just a group of students, but a cohesive team working in harmony towards a common goal. We built on everything from the first competition, and by the endurance race, achieved another team first: we completed the entirety of a brutal, muddy, rocky, car-destroying endurance race without ever needing to stop for more than fuel. On top of that, our vehicle-design actually tackled the obstacles well enough that, going into the last lap, we were in fifth place in the endurance event. The experience of being surrounded by my team members and going through the excitement and awe and triumph at how far we’d come in six months as a team, how far each of us had come since joining the team, and seeing what we could achieve together was overwhelming. There were hugs and shouts of excitement and grins all around with maybe a few tearful, “I love you, Man’s,” in the mix. That moment made all of the stress and the late-nights and the failed attempts and try-again’s absolutely worth it. The cherry on top was later that evening, when we found out that we’d scored an overall eighth place, but the feeling of accomplishment and camaraderie amongst the team that day were the true highlight for me.

Who were your UCalgary mentors?

I have a lot of people to thank for helping me get to where I am now, but to pick just a few: Rob Scorey and all the machinists and technicians from the Engineering Machine Shop, as well as lab technicians like Brandon Ferguson and Chris Simon. I’ve learned from all of them in different ways, and each of them have helped me become a better engineer and a better person.

What is your advice for new engineering students?

When it comes to your studies, talk to your profs, the lab techs, the grad students, the support staff – they are all there to help you. I had days when I’d struggle to wrap my head around a problem on my own and have it all click into place within a five-minute conversation. Beyond that, though, those conversations tended to lead to deeper thought and understanding of course material, or brought about other opportunities from making the connection. One of my lab techs once said, “The students who ask questions are the ones who make good engineers.”

Outside of classes, find something that speaks to you and go get involved. Take the time to try new things – clubs, teams, whatever suits you – and take advantage of the opportunities that are available to you. I think I joined something like six clubs in first year and, while not all of them resonated with me in the long term, the experience of trying it got me out of my shell enough to find the Baja team and spark a whole host of learning opportunities, friendships and career options.

Finally, learn to find your balance. Get to know yourself, when you can keep going and strive for better, and when to give yourself a break. No one can tell you what that is for you, but use your degree as an opportunity to find out.

What is your life beyond engineering?

I would consider myself a maker and a lifelong learner, and while my career path is STEM focused, I definitely have a creative side. After the whirlwind of wrapping up my degree, I decided that the next chapter of my life would be about bringing back a sense of balance to my life. I’ve reconnected with my creativity since graduation. I started taking ballroom dance lessons (Waltz, Swing, Cha Cha), and cooking as a means of culinary adventure instead of just sustenance. My recipe book now includes moussaka, mushroom stroganoff and mujadara. I’ve gotten back to drawing and painting, and am working on a number of DIY projects for my home.

I like to get active outdoors, and have been taking advantage of BC’s hiking and biking potential. Now that I’m living near the coast, I plan to join the Learn to Row program, and my sister (Eliza, who is on the Dino’s Rowing Team) has been coaching me through dryland training to get ready for a great season start. When I can’t get outdoors, I bring the outdoors in. I’ve taken to growing a variety of houseplants, and most of my paintings are outdoor landscapes.

What does it mean to you to be an engineer?

In essence, engineers are creative problem-solvers. It requires having a deep understanding of a system – its functions, its problems and all the connections within it – and the ability to see the system through different perspectives to find solutions. The system could be a physical mechanical assembly, it could be a production process, it could be a small team of people or it could be an entire company, but all of those require engineers to be the creative problem-solvers that keep improving the system.

Personally, I believe that engineering also has a nobler side, as one of the regulated professions in Canada. There is an element of honour to engineering, and the ethics, integrity and responsibility that come with the role. While previous generations of engineers may not have thought the same way, I take this to mean two things: first, that I have a responsibility to understand and respect every person I work with, and especially to work at breaking down the preconception that engineers and tradespeople don’t get along. About a month after I started my current job, our welder was having trouble getting a particular setup to give good results, and she later told me that, when I took the time to talk her through a few troubleshooting steps, it shifted her perspective of me because she felt more understood in that moment. Second, I believe this extends beyond the workplace. The pledge to uphold the safety and wellbeing of the public goes beyond my designs to how I behave as a consumer and a voter. The responsibility to act in the best interest of the public is paramount to the character of an engineer.