What was a highlight or favourite moment from your time at SFU?
I have many great memories of SFU's engineering science program. However, I loved being a student tutor the most. Being able to make a significant impact on someone’s academic career was very gratifying. Getting younger students excited about the possibilities that math, science and engineering can provide was my most rewarding experience at SFU.

How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
Having the opportunity to take two or more co-ops has shaped my future career. I was able to try out both industry and academia positions which enabled me to make an informed decision for my future. Further, I developed an understanding of the importance of testing my code as it was emphasized in both opportunities. 

What advice would you like to share to students in their first year?
In my first year, I wish I had signed up for more engineering clubs and societies. I was on the SFU Varsity Swim team throughout my five years, which generated memories and friends that I now cherish in my post-grad career. Clubs at SFU I would have loved to join would be the Robot-Soccer club and the SFU Rocketry club!

What are your current plans?
Post-graduation, I want to find a great work-life balance as I move forward. I have professional swimming opportunities ahead of me, and I want to combine them with the software development I love. The concrete plans are still in the works while I spend four months living in Vienna and travelling Europe.

What was a highlight or favourite moemnt from your time at SFU?
My favorite moment from my time at SFU has to be the time I organized my first GOENG Girls workshop through SFU’s Women in Engineering club. The sustainability themed workshop for middle school girls involved building a small-scale electrical model of a wind-turbine using direct current motors. At the end of the workshop, one of the attendee’s dad asked me where he could purchase the workshop materials for his daughter so she can experiment building similar engineering models at home. Their enthusiasm made me feel like all the hard work I had put into the workshop had been rewarded.

How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
Other than the technical courses and the extra-curricular experiences, my capstone project played a big role in helping me enter my career today. These include soft-skills like being proactive and having good work ethics.

What advice would you like to share to students in their first year?
My first advice for new students is to get out there and get involved. Courses and labs do a great job of providing you with all the technical knowledge. Extra-curriculars such as joining clubs, design teams and co-ops give you an outlet to apply and enhance that technical knowledge. My second advice is more of a note - that it’s okay to feel overwhelmed when you are starting your undergrad journey. Just remember to ask for help because there are a ton of resources, mentors and advisors to help you navigate.

What are your current plans?
After graduation, I will be starting a full-time role at MDA Space working as a Junior Mission Ops engineer at the Canadian Space Agency headquarters in Québec. In this role, I will be part of the Flight Support Team that monitors, analyzes and operates the Canadarm2 robotic arm on the International Space Station (ISS). Once fully trained on ISS, my duties will also involve training astronauts on the robotic arm operations.

What was a highlight or favourite moment from your time at SFU?
My Capstone team developed a new technology for correcting adolescent spinal curvature. Our project won the top award at ICAMES 2022, an international competition for engineering students held in Istanbul, and was featured in the August 2022 FAS news. Capstone was an incredible opportunity to collaborate and it was extremely inspiring to speak passionately about our project's potential future impact.

Read more about her and her team's capstone project here >>

How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
My volunteer experience in SFU biomedical engineering research labs, multiple technical co-ops at Microsoft, Samsung, and Stryker R&D, my capstone project, and my thesis on interpretable AI in medical imaging, greatly influenced my career direction. These opportunities inspired me to apply the AI and software/electronics engineering skills I learned throughout my degree to my passion for biomedical and neuroscience applications.

What advice would you like to share to students in their first year?
I would encourage new students to get involved in university clubs of interest and be open to trying new experiences. Enter competitions and hackathons because they are an incredible opportunity to gain valuable technical skills and friendships. Ask professors if you can volunteer in their research labs. Use co-ops to explore your career interests and make professional connections for post-graduation.

What are your current plans?
Following two internships at Microsoft I am honoured to be returning to Microsoft’s head office in Seattle as a Software Engineer in the Azure division. In the future, I hope to be able to develop into a project management role, specializing in AI for medical and neuroscience applications, and would also be excited to pursue higher education in these areas.

What was a highlight or favourite moment from your time at SFU?
In 2017, I joined Menrva Research Group under Dr. Carlo Menon. Having his support helped me stay focused on our goal through result-oriented tasks. I was also part of a highly motivated research team. They taught me new skills that greatly helped with my standalone and collaborative projects. Working with human participants to interact with the Kuka robot via force myography biosignals was my grad-life highlight. On few occasions, we had visitors from the industry and showcased our works. These were proud moments for us!

How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
During my grad studies, we worked on projects that were later published in IEEE conferences. I also joined the Engineering Science Graduate Association, and became part of the student body to address student challenges and issues. These opportunities helped me grow my network within the faculty and beyond, and represent our graduate students. Having my research published in higher quality journals while maintaining a strong CGPA also helped me successfully receive external awards. Workshops, organized by SFU Library, on Python in Github, Matlab deep learning approaches, NSERC scholarship application process were helpful. The 3-day Instructional Skills Workshop at SFU was also very useful in understanding student-oriented teaching approaches.

What advice would you like to share to students in their first year?
Be focused on your work, earn good grades, and attend job fairs or workshops as much as you can. These helped me improve my knowledge and increase my network. Also, learn about the national, international and external awards. In case you need it, do not hesitate to communicate with our SFU grad office; the people are very helpful.

What are your current plans?
While I was waiting for my defense, I applied for teaching positions and appeared in interviews. I was offered faculty positions as soon I completed my degree. Now, I have joined full-time as an Assistant Professor, MS in Cybersecurity Program at the New York Institute of Technology, Vancouver campus starting this fall 2022 term.

Umme’s research focus was to investigate recognition of human intentions of interactions with a robot by estimating applied forces in dynamic motion using force myography (FMG), a non-invasive wearable technology that can detect underlying changes when muscles contract. The learnings from this research can be used to detect human intentions of movements during interactions with a robot for object handling and transportation.