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School of Engineering Science
Operating at the frontiers of innovation, an education in engineering science opens doors to a wide array of career paths in a high-tech job market that is growing exponentially. Our graduates become electronics engineers, biomedical engineers, engineering physicists, automotive engineers, computer engineers, robotics specialists or information scientists.
Hear from our Alumni
Tell us a little about yourself.
I'm a recent electronics engineering science graduate who enjoys building things and understanding how they work. I’m especially interested in electronics and developing new skills through hands-on experience. Outside of school, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, playing badminton and watching hockey (Go Canucks Go, 2033).
Why did you choose engineering?
I chose engineering because I’ve always enjoyed understanding how things work and finding ways to solve problems. Engineering gave me the opportunity to turn ideas into something real. I especially enjoy the hands-on side of electronics, where designing, testing, troubleshooting and improving a project all come together.
What is your favourite SFU memory?
One of my favourite SFU memories is working with my capstone team to turn our smart pickleball paddle from an idea into a working product. From designing PCBs and wiring sensors to troubleshooting problems together, there were many challenges, but working through them as a team made the experience rewarding. I’ll also always remember the late-night study sessions with friends and starting a TikTok (@.peterphuc) to capture some of my SFU experiences. These are just a few experiences that made my time at SFU truly memorable!
What is something important you learned at SFU?
Throughout my degree, one of the biggest things I learned at SFU is that things don’t always work on the first try. Whether it was a project that needed redesigning or a circuit that didn’t work (I blew up a chip once), I learned not to get frustrated when things went wrong. Sometimes, you just have to be patient, figure things out and trust that things will work out.
What advice would you give to a new SFU student?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions or reach out to people. University can feel overwhelming at first, but you don’t have to figure everything out alone. Make friends, talk to the person sitting next to you in class and try things outside your comfort zone. Most importantly, don’t be too hard on yourself and remember to have fun along the way!
What’s next for you?
After graduation, I plan to travel, explore new places and begin my engineering career. I’m looking forward to gaining hands-on industry experience, continuing to develop my technical skills and exploring different areas of engineering. I’m excited to learn from the people I work with and bring what I learned at SFU into the next stage of my career.
Tell us about yourself.
I started this journey a long time ago, born out of a passion for learning and a desire to make the world a little bit better. I enrolled at SFU as a second-degree student, and during that time, I got jobs through co-op and built a career in IT. Along the way, I worked through personal, societal, and global challenges. And now, here I am graduating in Biomedical engineering.
What was your most memorable moment from your time at SFU?
I remember a conversation with a professor who said that everyone at a university—students, faculty and staff— is committed to the ideals of lifelong learning. That sentiment stayed with me. It shaped how I see my degree, not as an endpoint, but as part of a continuous path. No matter the pace, there is always room for growth.
How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
My time at SFU has shown me that I work best in a team that relies on me. I value the input and sense of solidarity that comes with collaboration. While I sometimes need external motivation, I am committed to contributing and never letting my team down.
If you could give one piece of advice to incoming students, what would it be?
Talk to people and make connections. You’ll need them in your third and fourth years. Be honest with yourself about where your passions lie, because at the end of the day, you’re the only one who can earn your degree.
What are your future plans?
I plan to continue growing and developing at SFU for the time being. I believe there’s a lot I can contribute to enhancing the experiences of both students and faculty before taking my leadership experience into the wider world.
Tell us about yourself.
I started university in the Health Sciences program at SFU, but after one semester I decided to switch to engineering. I've always enjoyed understanding how technology works and solving complex problems. Throughout my time at SFU, I developed a passion for digital design through hands-on projects, internships and coursework. I also built lasting friendships and professional connections that supported me throughout my degree and helped shape the person and engineer I am today.
What was your most memorable moment from your time at SFU?
My most memorable experience at SFU was the late-night Discord study sessions with my friends. After classes, we would spend hours helping each other with assignments and preparing for exams, sometimes staying up until 2 a.m. Another memorable highlight was working on my capstone project, which was sponsored by an industry partner and gave me the opportunity to develop a real-world engineering solution for a company. Landing an internship at AMD was also a rewarding milestone that showed me how much I had grown throughout my time at SFU.
How has your experience at SFU prepared you for your career path?
Take the projects you work on in school seriously. When applying for co-op positions, those projects often become the experience you showcase on your resume and discuss in interviews. Learning the theory is important but applying it through hands on projects is where you develop practical skills. Many of the opportunities I had came from the projects I completed throughout my degree.
If you could give one piece of advice to incoming students, what would it be?
If you fail a class, don’t give up—learn from it and try again. There will be times when things feel overwhelming, but having a positive mindset can make a big difference. Most importantly, make friends and build connections throughout your degree. The people you meet can support you through challenges and often open doors to opportunities you may not have found on your own.
What are your future plans?
I have accepted a position as a Mixed Signal Systems and Verification Engineer at Cadence in Toronto! In this role, I will be working on the emulation team and applying the technical skills I developed throughout my degree. I am excited to continue learning, contribute to industry-leading technology, and begin the next chapter of my career as an engineer.
Past Stories
BORIS PERDIJA - Class of 2025, BASc
I actually started my academic career in behavioural neuroscience, then briefly tried business, before finding my place in engineering. Thankfully, this was one of the best decisions I have made. My academic and leadership experiences opened doors to internships at Dell Technologies and the Canadian Space Agency, and I am excited to see where my journey takes me next! SFU provides an ample amount of engineering and computing science courses and opportunities that, if you look out for and take seriously, will certainly teach you how to be an effective engineer. For me, the capstone course was a vital opportunity that taught me both technical management and hands on experience, which I eventually applied to real-world settings (like my time at the Canadian Space Agency).
I am cursing at the word limit here because there are so many things that I can talk about. I loved every moment of my time at the Engineering Science Student Society (ESSS) and am grateful to have served as the president of the society. My exchange at the National University of Singapore was unforgettable, and I still talk and travel with the people I have met there. I also value many of the internships that I have done and all the little side quests I have partaken in, like running for the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) or trying out different courses throughout SFU in my early semesters. In the end, though I hated it at the moment, I also really enjoyed struggling through some of ENSC’s hardest courses with people I still call my friends today.
MOHAMMAD REZA MOHAMMADZADEH - Class of 2025, PhD
SFU helped me become a stronger team player and enabled me to engage in multidisciplinary research across various fields of engineering and physics. The School of Engineering Science, in particular, brought together diverse engineering disciplines, giving me the opportunity to explore areas such as semiconductor physics, nanofabrication and electronics, and to develop valuable skills in each of these fields.
When I think back on my time at SFU, so many moments come to mind, from my first day on campus to those early Zoom meetings during the pandemic lockdown, when it was unclear how we would continue our experimental work without being on campus. I will never forget the feeling of returning to the lab and seeing friends again after months apart. Through it all, the sense of teamwork and the friendships we built stood strong, and became even more meaningful once we were back together.
Be open to interdisciplinary learning even if it feels unfamiliar at first. I came from traditional engineering schools where engineering disciplines are clearly divided into departments and was unsure about SFU’s integrated approach. But embracing it gave me a broader perspective and valuable skills across fields. Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone; it is often where the most growth happens.
BASIL GIANNOPOULOS - Class of 2023, BASc
My co-op experience has been key in informing the trajectory of my career path and elevating my technical skills. I’m grateful for being welcomed into the multi-disciplinary microfluidics team at Precision Nanosystems, where I worked with truly talented people who modelled research and development (R&D) leadership every day. Co-op also exposed me to roles in management, health & safety, and scientific equipment sales that broadened my perspective of industry positions.
The Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) term where I worked with Dr. Bonnie Gray to incorporate novel self-sterilizing materials into textiles and 3D printed objects during COVID-19. It was humbling and incredibly exciting to work on a project directly impacting the pandemic as it unfolded in real time. There was a special moment in the Library Media Maker Commons when a touring visitor spotted me using the sewing machine and exclaimed, “Look, they’re making a face mask!” in recognition.
Get involved with activities inside and outside of the engineering department! There is nothing like the friendships built by facing uncertainty and undergoing hardship together, and engineering is full of that. But experiences with activism, humanitarian work, sustainability, fine arts, etc. enrich your perspective, inspire creativity, and prompt you to innovate by extending ideas from one area to a new context.
JOANNA GIANNOPOULOS - Class of 2023, BASc
One of my highlights from my time at SFU was being president of SFU Satellite Design Team. Being a part of this team allowed me to discover a passion for radio frequency (RF) electronics that resulted in some great co-op experiences and gave me skills that I ended up using during my capstone project. My team and I designed a ground-penetrating radar and experienced some very memorable 2 AM test sessions, another highlight of my degree.
SFU’s co-op program was a great way to get accustomed to typical engineering hiring processes and to develop my interviewing skills. I’m much more confident applying to jobs now than I would have been without the co-op experience.
My advice for students in their first year would be to find a community, whether that’s a design team, study group, or club. Having a support system is so valuable, and the more connections you have, the more opportunities you’ll find coming your way.
NAMSAKHI KUMAR - Class of 2023, BASc
One of my favorite moments was my time spent on the capstone project. I worked closely with my friends who have computer and electrical engineering backgrounds for eight months, supporting each other day and night. During that time, I not only got the opportunity to develop my skills but also learned a lot from them, as they helped me expand my skills beyond the field of biomedical engineering. I tried several features for the first time. Although we decided to drop some features after struggling with them for the first four months, we managed to effectively modify our plan and deliver a fully functional product by the deadline. It was one of the moments that I realized that ideas become successful when shared with multiple minds.
Through various projects and co-ops, I have gained experience and enjoyed exploring the relationship between integrating software, AI, and medical technology. My co-op at Microchip Technology boosted my interest and knowledge in low-power register-transfer level (RTL) design techniques. Additionally, my co-op experience as a Research Assistant for SFU’s Image Tech Lab, which is located at Surrey Memorial Hospital, and my participation in a brain-computer interface hackathon allowed me to work with advanced EEG headsets. These experiences have allowed me to explore research areas related to the brain, medical imaging, machine learning, and computational modeling. I am fortunate that these co-op positions and projects have equipped me with many technical skills and a broad perspective that extends beyond the biomedical field.
It may sound a bit philosophical but based on my personal experience, I strongly advise all first-year students not to give up just because you are finding it hard or because you received a C grade in any course. Especially don't give up because you think others around you are smarter and you’ll never be smart enough. I never imagined that someone like me, who struggled with programming and physics courses in the first year while also carrying the burden of a part-time job, would eventually succeed in passing my thesis with distinction in my final year. This unexpected accomplishment is proof that my persistent questioning and belief in myself paid off. I constantly wondered, "If others can do it, why can't I?"
BARDIA AZIZIAN - Class of 2023, MASc
My research primarily focused on visual coding for machines, addressing important challenges such as privacy concerns. Within this field, my objective was to develop efficient and privacy-preserving methods for compressing visual data for machine vision models. Tasks such as image classification, object detection, etc., require specialized codecs designed specifically for these tasks, as relying solely on human-targeted codecs may not yield optimal outcomes.
Before SFU, I hadn’t delved deep into machine learning and its real-world applications. However, working alongside an incredible research team at the Multimedia Lab and taking relevant courses allowed me to explore practical technologies within my research. This hands-on experience complemented my theoretical knowledge and equipped me with skills that will undoubtedly contribute to my future career success.
One of the highlights of my time at SFU was the exhilarating experience of finally meeting my supervisor and research group in person. Due to the COVID situation, our initial meetings were held online, and I never had the opportunity to connect with my collaborators face-to-face until the last semesters of my program. This experience was my favorite because it brought a sense of belonging for the first time since I moved to Vancouver.
I would like to encourage new students to actively engage in social activities and networking. Building connections and forming friendships can greatly shape your personality and open doors to opportunities and fresh ideas for your future career. Remember, it's not just about your studies; make sure to have fun and enjoy every aspect of your life as well.
MOHAMMADHADI MOHANDES - Class of 2023, MASc
I have had many good memories from the day I started at SFU. I am a musician, and I would say the highlight was getting to know three other musicians, Babak, Sina, and Soroush and playing in front of 120 people one week after my master’s defence; that was the best feeling. I also liked the moment when my brother and his wife, my family over Zoom, and my friends attended my defence session. It’s said that this was the most crowded defence in SFU history.
While working on my thesis and the courses that I took for my master’s requirements, I learned valuable technical skills in robotics programming and machine learning. Moreover, being a teaching assistant for a number of courses provided me with experience in teaching and interacting with undergraduate students.
Learn to enjoy your life while you are a student. Plan for your fun and also your studies. Try to learn some new skills and build strong networks among your friends for your future.