What was a highlight or favourite moment from your time at SFU?
The biggest highlight from my time at SFU has been getting to know the closely-knit research community through engineering science’s graduate school. I think we have some of the friendliest professors and grad students around, and I’ve built friendships with peers and seniors that will certainly last into the future.

How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
My career path has been a tumultuous one. I’m honestly making it up as I go, but the interdisciplinary nature of SFU’s programs has made navigating that path a lot easier. The opportunities I received through SFU, like working at Vancouver General Hospital as a biomedical engineer, have given me a well-rounded education that I feel has prepared me for whatever the future holds.

What advice would you like to share to students in their first year?
Things will almost never go according to your plans, so don’t stress too much when they don’t. It’s easier and more fulfilling to just ride the wave. 

What are your current plans?
I’m blessed to say that I received admission and a full-ride scholarship to University College London’s PhD program in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering. I’ll be moving to London, UK in September! I’m extremely excited for the move, and so grateful to my friends and colleagues at SFU who helped me get to this point.

What was a highlight or favourite moment from your time at SFU?
Starting the SFU Robot Soccer Club (SFURS) is the biggest highlight from my time at SFU. Hopefully, the team that I have built will continue to grow bigger, and they in turn can help students learn more advanced skills. I also hope that the team will represent SFU to compete in nthe international scene with the robots.

How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
With a well-established engineering program and well-known co-op program, SFU allowed me to work at two different and well-known companies, Microchip and Tesla Inc. It helped build my resume while gaining a lot of practical experience. It also greatly helped me with networking and being more prepared for my career.

What advice would you like to share to students in their first year?
Join extracurricular activities, ideally one related your program and another that is not related to your program. For example, join a design team so that you can apply what you learned in your classes on a real engineering project. Then also pursue some sort of physical activity or hobby that you can enjoy and use as a getaway from your studies.

What are your current plans?
I have started my full-time position at AMD as Silicon Design Engineer. Even though, this position is not a biomedical engineering job, I am glad that I am able to be part of such a talented team of engineers. I will perhaps try to pursue a position at a biomedical engineering company or start my own biomedical company in the future.

Read more about Arvin Amini here >>

What was a highlight or favourite moment from your time at SFU?
When I received the Excellent Trainee Award at the 2019 IEEE International Flexible Electronics Technology Conference; it was an acknowledgment of my doctoral research at SFU. This also encouraged me to continue my path as a researcher. Another highlight included my first time skiing on Cypress Mountain with my friends since I came to SFU as there is no snow in the place where I lived before. The feeling when I skied down the hill was so special that it encouraged me to challenge myself in my daily life and when I face difficulty in my research.

How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
Firstly, I have learned research-related skills under the supervisor of Dr. Woo Soo Kim, such as academic writing (manuscript, proposal, thesis), presentation, as well as the way to treat students equally and generously. He has given me a lot of help and guidance. These skills are the fundamental requirement for a researcher. Secondly, I have obtained fundamental knowledge in 3D printing and bio-inspired devices, which would be good support for my future research fields and form my future research topics. 

What advice would you like to share to students in their first year?
My suggestion is to establish an interest in research, especially in the research field you will carry out. That is also the reason why I came to SFU for pursuing a PhD study instead of continuously working in the industry. That will make the work of research more interesting, instead of boring.

What are your current plans?
My dream is to make a contribution to the world by developing new or improved and accessible working devices. Therefore, my current plan is to explore deeper into my research fields and collaborate with well-known research groups in top universities and industrial companies around the globe. My final career plan is to be a faculty member and continue my academic research. 

Read more about Chao Bao here >>

What was a highlight or favourite moment from your time at SFU?
One of my favourite moments at SFU was when I was tutoring a student as a Computer Science Peer Tutor. A student was struggling with his coding assignment for a couple of days. When I walked through the code, he said thank you and looked so excited after he realized where the bug was. I was really happy about it because I knew exactly how it felt when you have stared at the code for hours and had no idea where the bug was. Even a small hint can be a great help.

How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
SFU provides many opportunities to help us become successful such as the research courses and the co-op program. The one that helped me the most was the Capstone projects provided by SFU. I had a chance to work closely with the professors and work on actual research projects, which is why I decided to pursue graduate studies after completing my undergrad.  

What advice would you like to share to students in their first year?
University is not only about going to classes and going back home right after. Exploration is very important. Join the clubs and make new friends. Also, don’t try to solve everything by yourself. Don’t be shy about going to the writing center for questions about how to improve your essays. Go talk to the CS peer tutors when you have questions about your coding assignments.

What are your current plans?
I will be continuing my academic research career at SFU with professor Jiangchuan Liu as a PhD student in Fall 2022.   

What was a highlight or favourite moment from your time at SFU?
I started my graduate studies at SFU in September 2016 as a MASc student in the school of engineering science. Due to outstanding research performance during the first four semesters of my MASc studies, I got an excellent opportunity to transfer to the Ph.D. program directly without completing MASc. During my Ph.D. studies, I received quite a few scholarships and awards from SFU and other international institutions. 

How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
During my Ph.D. studies, I worked on two different research projects. First, I proposed novel approaches to forecast residential power consumption, which is crucial for optimizing energy usage. In the second project, I proposed several algorithms to enhance the quality of 3D models generated from 3D scanners. Research outcomes of both projects have been published in top-tier international journals and conferences. Working on two different projects for a long time led me to develop time management skill that is very helpful for me to be more productive in different research threads in my current employment.    

What advice would you like to share to students in their first year?
As a Ph.D. graduate in engineering science, I strongly suggest first-year engineering students to learn how to think to solve given engineering problems rather than just learning how those problems have been solved before.   

What are your current plans?
I am currently working as a research scientist in SFU’s School of Engineering Science, where I continue my research in graph signal processing-based 3D point cloud sampling and video super-resolution in a joint project with York University.    

What was a highlight or favourite moment from your time at SFU?
From my time at SFU, my favourite moments happened in Women in Clean Tech (WiCT), the club I helped co-found, and was the Vice-President and the Design Team Lead. Through this experience, I saw the community on campus, which focuses on sustainability and equality, flourish.

How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
Apart from my year-long co-op experience with Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada, my capstone project gave me the best collaboration and project management skills that I will carry with me throughout my career. My team successfully designed and prototyped an innovative wind turbine that uses vibration to create clean energy.

What advice would you like to share to students in their first year?
The advice I would like to share with first year students is to be kind to yourself throughout your learning journey. There are times when it will be challenging. Continue to push forward, for in the end it will be worth all the long nights.

What are your current plans?
I am currently working at Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada in the telecommunication regulatory standards team, where we uphold Canadians’ safety and break down barriers of trade and innovation. I will become a certified engineer and hope to continue my academic studies by undertaking a master’s and PhD degree.

What was a highlight or favourite moment from your time at SFU?
My favourite moment at SFU was presenting the Capstone project with my team, which led to us winning the People’s Choice Award. Becoming a developer was an achievement built up through years of learning and practice since I enrolled in my first course at SFU.

How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
The theories from lectures and practical experience gained through team projects and internships enabled me to land a full-time job offer. I cherished the abundance of resources the faculty and staff provided me to succeed, and help me become a better person.

What advice would you like to share to students in their first year?
Try to take at least one or two co-ops or internships to gain working experience. Start looking early. During the interviews, be passionate at sharing what you have learned. 

What are your current plans?
I’ll start my software developer career at Microsoft where I did my internships. I’ll focus on learning the technologies and skills needed for my job. I also plan to spend more quality time with my husband and twin toddlers.

Read more about Julie Jen here >>

What was a highlight or favourite moemnt from your time at SFU?
I was proud to achieve second place in the student research contest at CS Research Day 2020, for the system I developed that lets educators collaborate on customizing their classroom software. I think it really spoke to the importance of instructors being able to harness their educational technology to the fullest, especially for hybrid or remote teaching.

How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
A core tenet in the Interactive Experiences Lab at SFU is applying human-centered design principles at every stage of building software. I came from a more abstract background in math, so this has had a huge influence on my approach to software engineering. I’m always thinking about how to empower people through the code I write.

What advice would you like to share to students in their first year?
If you can, apply for student internships! There are lots of opportunities out there to gain practical experience in industry. I learned a lot from an internship with Microsoft early on in my PhD program, and this experience helped to guide the course of much of my later research.

What are your current plans?
I’m actively interviewing for industry positions that bridge software engineering with either design or user experience research. In addition to roles in educational technology, I’m also pursuing opportunities that focus on other passions of mine, including digital privacy, security, and accessibility.

Read more about Laton Vermette here >>

What was a highlight or favourite moment from your time at SFU?
Being a part of the MSE student society (MSESS) helped accelerate my growth as a person: personally, academically and professionally. I used to be extremely shy when I first entered university, but I did not want this to define me forever. So, I forced myself into uncomfortable positions and joined the MSESS as a first-year representative and later as VP Internal Relations, which allowed me to practice speaking in front of classes, meet new peers in my program, participate in fun and exciting engineering events and conferences, and help be a voice for my classmates. This experience left me with great memories during my time here at SFU and helped open up a career path for management I never even dreamed possible as a shy first-year student.  

How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
The MSE program is a diverse and versatile field. For this exact same reason, it was difficult to decide a career path after graduation! The co-op program allowed me to explore multiple avenues of internships, giving me great insight into what I wanted to pursue. Purposely, I chose internships that were wildly different than the last to gain experience and to hone into what I liked and disliked, and what I could see myself potentially do after graduation!  

What advice would you like to share to students in their first year?
I have truly learnt so much in my journey through higher education, but the lessons I learnt for my own mental health were paramount. Something I forgot for a while was that "education is a tool for greatness and not the definition of it” - nor is it the definition of you and your worth. Remember why you are truly learning something and that it is ok not to graduate in four years. Be kind to yourself and prioritize your mental health; put worth and effort into the person you are becoming! Also, don’t be afraid of failures. Failures along my career path truly outweighed the successes, yet each failure helped me learn more than any of my successes ever have or will. Finally, for women who doubt whether they should be in the field of STEM or not, I simply leave with you that you do belong - own it!

What are your current plans?
After finishing my courses, a difficult visa process and relocating to the United States, I am honored to say that I was welcomed back at Tesla as a full-time technical program manager for the vehicle software team! My duties include being a project and program manager for all firmware-affecting New Product Introductions affecting Models 3, Y, S and X in the Fremont Factory! I have become someone my younger self would be truly proud of and admire as a woman pursuing a career in STEM! I am grateful for this dream coming true everyday.

Read more about Rachel George here >>