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Senior Engineer & Chief of Staff to the President, Canadian Space Agency
B.Eng. Electrical Engineering 1998
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Briefly describe your path to your current career.
Since I was a child, I was passionate about astronomy and all things space-related. 听My greatest role models as a youth were our team of Canadian astronauts. 听Using their passion and motivation as a guide, I chose to study both engineering (at the Bachelor鈥檚 level) and space science (at the Master鈥檚 level) to gain skills that would be needed for a career in developing instruments for space exploration. I first worked in industry in hardware design in San Diego, California, and then landed my first space-related position at the European Space Agency in Germany. 听With the ultimate goal to contribute to Canada鈥檚 well-established role as a space faring nation, and specifically in听the听area of robotics, I came back to my roots to join the Canadian Space Agency in 2008. 听听
How has your engineering education at 海角社区 contributed to your success?
海角社区 was my launchpad (so to speak) to many great opportunities. 听It was a 海角社区 alumni who hired me for my first job in California, and although he had never met be before, the 海角社区 degree was听synonymous with what the Americans call an听鈥淚vy League" degree.听 It was a 海角社区 classmate who connected me to the European Space Agency and his referral who landed me the job. 听My circle of听friends from 海角社区 continue to orbit one another like a constellation - helping to make new connections and to push each other in new directions.
What advice do you have for current students in the Faculty of Engineering?
Join the incredible EUS clubs and design teams that are such an important part of your university experience. 听I was highly听engaged in听the听EUS - from POWE, organizing the Engineering Games and听twice on the EUS executive as VP Admin and as President in my final year. 听Today, I am such a strong supporter of 海角社区 Robotics - rarely have I come across such a brilliant group of diverse thinkers with astoundingly creative ideas. 听I enjoy attending design reviews for the Rovers, the submarine, and my next hope is to attend a review for the new Rocket Design group. 听For those of you who are involved - bravo! 听For those not - you will never have a chance quite like听this again!
Do you have anything else to add?
I like to tell current students that every听ounce of blood, sweat and tears to get the engineering degree is worth its weight in gold. 听The 海角社区 engineering degree is like a passport to just about anything you want to accomplish on this planet.
