Improving processes in developing countries is one of the things on Dropsy Kikabou’s idea-packed mind. The fourth-year student from the Republic of Congo came to Vancouver in 2009 to take a short course in English (ESL program) and discovered SFU’s mechatronic systems engineering program. Six years later, Kikabou is nearing graduation and ready to put his skills into action.
Jessica Peare wants to take her passion for aerospace engineering to new heights, whether she's sitting in the cockpit or controlling an unmanned vehicle from below. The mechatronic systems engineering student, who earned her pilot’s license at age 18, is a member of SFU’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle team: Team GUARDIAN.
Fourth-year mechatronic systems engineering student Rame Putris is a member of the Technology Entrepreneurship@SFU (Tech e@SFU) initiative. The program, launched in 2012 in partnership with BCIC, Ken Spencer, the Faculty of Applied Sciences and the Beedie School of Business, brings together the best and brightest students to develop entrepreneurially promising and scientifically sound ideas.
It started with a goldfish. Husband and wife graduands Kyle and Leonie Tharratt, who met at SFU and married in 2013, received the unwanted pet from a family friend. Four years later, they are keen aquarists with 13 fish (and a colony of shrimp)—a passion that inspired their mechatronic systems engineering final-year capstone project.
SFU mechatronics systems engineering student Gursher Sidhu was named to the 2015 cohort of The Next 36, a national initiative aimed at transforming Canada’s most promising post-secondary students into leading entrepreneurs. In this Q & A, he shares his experience on the program so far.
First-year mechatronic systems engineering student Raaj Chatterjee, a Burnaby volunteer with over 700 hours given to community clubs, received a 2014 Schulich Leader Scholarship. Chaterjee developed his interest in the environment and sustainability in high school, where he began a school composting project, and later organized a conference at Science World to link high school students on environmental issues.
Working on local farms during high school, every hay bale he stacked brought first-year SFU student Thomas Krammer a step closer to his dream: studying engineering at university. “I’m not in a position where my parents can pay for school, so it was coming out of my own wallet,” says the quietly ambitious Langley-based student, who had been working since Grade 8 to save money for his college fund.
Ane Tendo (B.Sc. in Mechatronic Systems Engineering, '15) grew up in Cameroon, where from a young age he was known as the “computer guy,” tinkering with household appliances and lending a hand to hook up TVs. After completing a physics degree in his home country, Tendo moved to Canada and, following a stint as a pharmacy assistant, enrolled in SFU’s mechatronic systems engineering program.
The three places I’ve had the pleasure to work at for my co-op placements: Surrey Fluid Power, FortisBC and Mainroad Contracting LP. Each co-op placement allowed me to develop unique skills to each role, tying the multi-disciplinary philosophy of the SFU Mechatronics Systems Engineering program together.
Growing up in India, Mechatronic Systems Engineering student Ginelle Nazareth would watch her engineer father fix things in their house and aspired to follow in his footsteps. “His approach was always very methodical,” she says. “To an outsider it seems amazing; almost magical, but then you realize it’s just simple, logical steps.”
If your career aspirations align with your childhood hero’s, you’re probably on track for a fulfilling career. Spellbound by the high-tech suit worn by armoured superhero Iron Man, mechatronic systems engineering graduand Sheldan Manansala had starry ambitions to create a similar exoskeleton device.
Dispatching a job application to automobile industry behemoth General Motors with a cover letter she now says was “a bit risky,” Megan Mogouei didn’t worry too much about the outcome. After all, she hadn’t been seriously looking at the car sector when she began applying for entry-level positions during the capstone project period of her undergraduate SFU mechatronics degree.
It took Etienne Naugle 10 years to find the program he always wanted to do. “I wish this had been available when I first went to school,” he says, looking back on his time as a mature undergraduate student in the School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering. “I always wanted to be an engineer but I just never found the right course.”
Ask any group of undergraduates on the SFU Mechatronic Systems Engineering program for a roll call of potential employers they dream about working for and one company will likely hover near the top of most starry-eyed wish lists. Cupertino-based consumer technology pioneer – and one of the world’s most successful corporations – Apple Inc. is a fantasy destination for many ambitious engineering students.
While fellow students in the School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering spent their time keeping up with their classes, George Cheng discovered a passion he hadn’t anticipated. “During my undergrad, I did a lot of research projects as well as research-focused co-op terms. I ended up developing a real love for research,” he says.
Ask any group of undergraduates on the SFU Mechatronic Systems Engineering program for a roll call of potential employers they dream about working for and one company will likely hover near the top of most starry-eyed wish lists. Cupertino-based consumer technology pioneer – and one of the world’s most successful corporations – Apple Inc. is a fantasy destination for many ambitious engineering students.