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

Women in Engineering: Our Global Future

Ciao everyone!

Elaine Kunda being filmed by Double Barrel Studios.

I cannot believe that we are already in the middle of June! I'm sure those of you that are in high school are busy studying for your final exams, wishing it was summer already and getting ready for university in the fall.

I have some very exciting news to share with all of you today.  Over the past few weeks, I was given the opportunity to help create a professional mini-documentary! That’s right, a professional video, with a director, producer, director of photography, camera crew and make-up artists.

This video, Women in Engineering: Our Global Future, was created in partnership with the G(irls) 20 Summit in Russia, produced by Double Barrel Studios and hosted by Elaine Kunda, a McMaster alumna. The summit, which is taking place in Moscow right now, brings together delegates from each of the G20 countries and the African Union.  The delegates discuss and design innovative ideas to empowering girls and women globally.  Then they present these ideas to G20 Leaders.  The best part is that these young ladies are all between the ages 18-20!

L to R: Mridula, Nilanthy and Maureen showing us their robot bugs.
You will see interviews with Mridula & Nilanthy in the video. 

I really wish I could have gone to the summit to meet such forward thinking young women!

The video is all about encouraging young girls to study in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.  Being a woman in engineering, encouraging more girls to study in STEM fields is a cause I love supporting.

The G(irls) 20 Summit is streaming online live today and tomorrow (June 17th - 18th). If you have a few free minutes, you should check it out here. There are some very cool speakers.

Until next time,
Danielle

... Oh you are still here, did you want to see the video I helped make? You can view Women in Engineering: Our Global Future right here. Enjoy!