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Gabriel Mesquita, BSc (Eng)'10 (Mechanical Engineering)
From engineering to math to entrepreneurship to design
Mechanical engineering alum Gabriel Mesquita taking a “roundabout” career route
As a member of the UCalgary Racing Team while studying at the Schulich School of Engineering, Gabriel Mesquita, BSc (Eng)’10, BSc’19 Applied Math, is more than familiar with the many twists and turns found on a racing track.
Turns out he’s experienced more than a few twists and turns in his career as well.
After graduating from Schulich with a major in mechanical and a minor in petroleum engineering, Mesquita worked in the oil and gas sector both overseas and in downtown Calgary. However, after four years as a production and reservoir engineer, he decided to come back to UCalgary to study applied math.
“I did the math degree as a way to pivot careers. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do but I like math, so I went back to do what I like, while doing a little bit of soul searching,” says Mesquita. “Through math, I got into programming. And through programming I got to learn about design.”
Going through engineering gave me the confidence to go back and do a math degree and then through math, here I am.
Gabriel Mesquita, BSc (Eng)’10 (Mechanical Engineering)
Interestingly, he struggled with the programming class he took at Schulich. “I just didn't get it,” he says. “So it's funny how 10 years later coding is the thing that led me to design. But it all makes sense when you look at it backwards.”
While studying math, he also took an introductory entrepreneurship course which spurred him and a few classmates to start a gaming company. They built a couple of games and published them before the company morphed into a design studio, which Mesquita still runs.
Along the way, he joined the management team at InfraSight Software. “It's been really interesting because since they're a startup, I get to wear many, many hats—things like improving the brand, designing and building the website and designing the product,” he says. “It's very multifaceted.”
The role allows him to be creative every day, something he didn’t get enough of as an engineer, yet “I still like engineering,” he says. “I can't wait to get a car so I can mess with it.”
While he’s no longer using his analytical skills to optimize energy production, Mesquita still uses the problem-solving expertise he learned in engineering school. And after work, he’s still spending time with the “lifelong friends” he made while at Schulich.
“Engineering is pretty intense,” he says. “I spent a lot of time with my tight group of friends and am still friends with people who I met back in those days. You go through this experience together and sort of form lifelong bonds.”
He’s grateful for the “many wonderful” people and the plethora of experiences and opportunities he’s had through engineering. “In a really strange way, engineering led me to where I am today, but in a really roundabout kind of way,” he says. “Going through engineering gave me the confidence to go back and do a math degree and then through math, here I am.”