Speed Mentoring: Women Helping Women!

Hi everyone!

One of my favourite things about McMaster University is the never ending opportunities to network! I generally receive an email about 2-5 different opportunities per week from various faculty organizations. I was so excited when I was invited to a “Speed Mentoring Event – Women in Engineering”! 

This event had 10 different 15 minute workshops that would be run by McMaster Alumnae women in various leadership positions. We were allowed to select 4 out of the 10 choices and I ended up selecting 'Work-Life Balance', 'Taking Time off Work', 'Managing a Team' and 'Negotiating Salaries'.

The delicious free food was an added bonus 
to an incredibly valuable evening.

‘Work-Life Balance’ was a workshop presented by Christine Ermarkaryan, a woman with an undergrad in Chemical Engineering and Management, and her masters in Business. Christine reflected on her own experiences and the challenges she faced with work-life balance. I was challenged to prioritize different parts of my life to make sure that I balance work and play, even if sometimes work feels like play!

Next, I attended ‘Taking Time off Work’ by Anjali Tandon, a woman with a degree in Chemical Engineering and a minor in French. Anjali told us about her 4 year undergrad followed by her travels through Europe. As a hiring manager, she provided us with some very valuable and unique insight on how we can approach our own time off. Her recommendation was a maximum of a year to a year and a half off to give yourself that much needed break, while not falling behind with rapidly changing technology.

Following that, I attended ‘Managing a Team’ presented by Pat Greene, a woman with a degree in Computer Engineering. As a woman who manages engineers, Pat was able to walk us through different scenarios and conflicts that tend to happen in team environments. One of the main resonating messages was the fact that it is a manager’s job to motivate the team, and the best way to do so is with effective communication.

Lastly, I attended ‘Negotiating Salaries’ by Faye Wales, a woman with a degree in Sociology. Faye had a very interesting presentation about the somewhat taboo subject matter of renegotiating working conditions. She provided suggestions such as: avoid asking about salaries in the very first interview, wait until the offer is given before debating the topic, and once the job is secured, request a salary review after 6 months have gone by.

Engaged students participating in the Speed Mentoring sessions.

The night itself was extremely valuable and fun however the networking opportunities could not be ignored. I ended up asking Anjali for her email in order to message her later. I emailed her about the thoughts I have for my own path and asked her for advice. Instead of emailing me back, she called me and we had a long conversation about my future. As an engineering hiring manager, she provided me with an unmatched perspective. It is opportunities like this that only will come with a little bit of added effort.

The moral of this post is something along the lines of ‘you miss 100% of the shots you never take’. In university, it is essential for you to take your future into your own hands. If you close yourself off to opportunities in front of your eyes, you could miss something big. Set yourself up for success, and read your emails! ~Vanessa

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

Summer Adventures on (and off) Campus!

The summer has just been flying by! I can't believe it's already the end of June!

Genna making a material to administer
drugs to the eye through contact lenses.

Once again I'm working in Dr. Heather Sheardown's lab for the summer, although not the same project as last year. If you're wondering what I was working on last year, check out a blog I wrote about my lab adventures in Keeping an Eye on Things! 

This year I'm investigating silicone contact lenses for drug delivery to the eye. We know that these contact lenses release the drug at a certain rate, but we don't know why. Is it a factor of the drug being trapped in the material, or is it because the drug is binding to the monomers in the polymer chain? That's what I'm researching this summer. Basically, I get to make a bunch of different materials (with different drugs and in different compositions) and test the amount of drug they’ll release in water. After a lot of complicated equations and statistical analysis I can determine which composition is ideal for drug delivery.

I'm so excited to be working in this area of research because I think the possible applications of these lenses are astounding. Imagine getting an eye infection or eye surgery and instead of having to put annoying drops in your eye, you can just wear your contacts and the problem solves itself!

Enough about work; let's talk about all the fun stuff going on around campus over the summer! As you can imagine all this rain has brought out the best of nature. Now, this may be terrifying news for you allergy sufferers, but for those of us who love going for hikes through Cootes Paradise it's amazing! There's nothing more relaxing than taking a leisurely stroll through the park with some good friends.  If you want to hear more about my exciting summer adventures, I've recently been featured in a video, Mac Eng: Reel Talk with Genna!

There are some other exciting things going on in Mac Eng as well. Last week, the Faculty of Engineering released a mini-documentary Women in Engineering: Our Global Future, that was shown to the delegates at the G(irls) 20 Summit in Russia. It highlights women in engineering and their potential career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math, known as “STEM”. Dr. Sheardown is interviewed and provide some compelling facts and insights about the pressing need for women in these fields. See if you can spot my cameo appearance :)

Anywhoo, I guess I should get back to work. These contact lenses won't make themselves!

Cheers!
~ Genna

Bombardier Aerospace: Taking my Education to New Heights

Back in Grade 12, when I first applied to attend McMaster University, I was skeptical about pursuing engineering. I wondered if it was really for me or if I was choosing a completely wrong path. So, I chose to enter the engineering co-op program so that I could begin to learn first-hand whether or not this career path was a good fit. As first year came to a close, I found out that I was successful in my application to the materials science and engineering stream and the engineering & management program. I felt ‘wide-eyed and bushy-tailed’ with excitement about my future!

My view walking into work every morning

I had applied for an engineering co-op position at Bombardier Aerospace in early January and was extremely excited and honoured to receive my offer letter in mid-April. I began my position in May and have been working Monday to Friday ever since. All of the student interns are given some sort of project to work on over the 600 hour period that they must complete over the summer.  My position is within the maintenance programs and planning sector, one of three sub-sections of the maintenance engineering department.

Editing PCTEL files at my desk

At Bombardier, we maintain computer records known as “PCTEL” files (parts, consumables, tools, equipment, labour). These files contain the information on the tasks required to adequately maintain different plane models, which is a very important procedure. This is where I come in! My job is to update these files based on the most recent revisions, and improve the automation of how they’re updated. I’ll be working with Excel and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to complete this task.

So far, I’ve been extremely happy with the warm and welcoming environment around the office. Bombardier has nearly 5,000 staff members on-site and every single one that I’ve had the opportunity to interact with has been respectful and caring. I found that a lot of the staff are very unique and encourage humour around the office! When I’m not working away on the PCTEL files, I might be attending daily meetings featuring conference calls to Montreal, getting a tour of some of the 1.8 million sq. ft. of production space or learning the acute importance of building strong relationships with those you meet in the workplace.

Bombardier & WestJet celebrate the delivery of the Q400 planes

Just the other day, I got my first opportunity to interact with members of the materials and processing department. The people I met with were all so willing to tell me everything about what they do; they gave me amazing material to read (*pun intended) and offered me the opportunity to tag along with them in the labs and on site from time to time. I even met a woman who graduated from McMaster’s materials engineering program just a few years ago! This job has been an unbelievable opportunity thus far and I know it will just continue to get better as time goes on. Of course, I cannot possibly say that I know for a fact that engineering is right for me based on my three weeks of work, but I can say this much – I haven’t felt this passionate about something in a long time. I simply cannot wait to continue to learn and grow as an engineer. 
 ~Vanessa

My Super Summer Jobs

Chicka Chicka Bow Wowww.

Done third year. Done classes, and assignments, and studying, and exams, and… work!
I thought I’d talk a little bit about working throughout your undergrad, since today is my last shift working with the Engineering I Outreach office, and in a couple of days I'm off to work a summer co-op position!

In my first summer, I was a Headstart instructor for two first year engineering courses. Headstart allows students to complete up to two first year courses before entering Engineering in their first year. I had a wonderful time working there but my favourite aspect is seeing where all my students ended up. I frequently bump into many of them, many of whom are now entering their third year of engineering, or starting their own co-op positions!

Posing with Deborah McIvor, May@Mac coordinator for the Faculty.

Last summer I worked for the office that posts these biogs: Engineering I Outreach. I've literally done a little bit of everything here from designing magazine advertisements, to learning bits about database management, testing and launching a new panoramic website, and a whole lot of event planning, and coordinating in between.  One of the events I helped with again this year was May@Mac Open House on Saturday, May 11, 2013.  I've had a chance to work on tons of interesting and diverse projects, and every day evolves into something a little different than yesterday. I started the position this time last year, and kept working throughout the school year. A campus job is amazing for students. I could literally walk out of my class, and down the hall to make it to my work shift. They’re super flexible around your academic schedule, and know that your school work comes first.

This summer, I've landed a co-op position with a well-known company in Toronto! In retrospect, all my non-technical questions from the interview were usually answered with my experiences from the past two summer positions I've held. And now, in the next few months, I’ll be using many of my learned skills to help me in building a business plan and launch a set of training videos for their technical products. I can honestly say I'm nothing but excited!

New people, new software, new skills; It’s going to be a fantastic summer!

~ Helen