Beyond Mac Eng: Working at Sunnybrook Hospital

Trinette being interviewed for the video.

Trinette has just graduated from McMaster Engineering. She was able to write us a post telling us about her final year and her amazing engineering job. Keep reading to find out more!

After four years of hard work, the thought of graduating with a degree in Electrical & Biomedical Engineering seemed like a dream… That was until I filled out forms for graduation and completed my eight month design project. Then, I couldn't believe it was finally happening!

Applying for full time jobs was overwhelming and time-consuming. After many applications and a few interviews, I was offered a research engineer position at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. My goal has always been to work in the medical field, so being given this exciting opportunity was truly incredible. I started my new position in May and find that working in a clinical research setting has proved to be very intriguing. Everything becomes more exciting and rewarding when you get to work on projects that have real world applications, like find alternative breast cancer drugs. Working with imaging devices such as CT/SPECT scanners and CT/PET scanners, and learning to operate them during various experiments is unbelievable. It seems as though you never really stop learning after university. Engineering has definitely taught me the problem solving skills required to come up with practical solutions needed for my job.

Trinette and David showing Elaine their design project.

During my final year at McMaster, I was fortunate enough to be involved in the filming of Women in Engineering: Our Global Future. This mini-documentary was created in partnership with the G(irls)20 Summit, produced by Double Barrel Studios, hosted by Elaine Kunda, a McMaster alumna, and features McMaster Engineering professors.  Working with everyone that helped to put the video together was a fantastic experience.  There was a lot of interesting conversations as to why many young women decide not to go into fields that are heavily involved with math and science. It was eye opening to hear about everyone’s personal experiences and difficulties in terms of their successes within engineering.

My own experience in engineering has been a mix of ups and downs, but a real passion for it began after my mother was in a bad accident. She was in a wheel chair for over six months, which inspired me to use engineering to improve people’s lives when they don’t have the full range of mobility we so commonly take for granted. I have found engineering to be a very exciting and an interesting field of study. It is also very rewarding because you are constantly building and making things, and you can always look back and say “Look, it works! And I built it!” In short, there is always something to feel proud about. I believe that the world needs more women in engineering and I hope this video inspires some young women to pursue engineering programs. If you have not seen the Women in Engineering: Our Global Future, then I would definitely check it out!

~ Trinette