Diversifying my skill set: exploring different engineering industries
Lucas DeMello (he/him) is a Biomedical Engineering student in his 3B term. He has participated in a variety of unique opportunities through co-op, from designing scoreboards to helping alleviate world hunger with machine learning. Lucas also shares how he copes with living away from home.
Lucas' co-op journey
Work term one: Lucas was a product manager for Kixcare, working on increasing operational efficiency and developing new workflows.
Work term two: In his second work term, Lucas worked as a mechanical engineer for IKO Industries at their factory in Madoc, Ontario, helping plan and implement improvements to the factory processes.
Work term three: Lucas then worked out of London, Ontario for OES as a mechanical design associate. He designed and modelled scoreboards for sporting venues throughout North America.
Work term four: Most recently, Lucas completed a co-op term as a biomedical machine learning research intern for the University of California, Davis working on a mass throughput machine learning pipeline helping researchers work to create parasite-resistant sorghum, which would help alleviate world hunger.
Q & A with Lucas
What has been the most rewarding thing about co-op?
“For me, the most rewarding thing about co-op has been exploring what I like to do in a space where I can contribute meaningfully and learn at the same time. I'm not sure what I want to do after I graduate so co-op is a time where I can try something for four months. I've tried to diversify my experiences to try as many different things as I can. It's never a waste of time because I'm getting experience and actively contributing to a problem somewhere in society, so that makes it a great place to learn. It also helps that I'm getting paid.”
“If you don’t know what you want to do, or how real life connects to what you are learning. co-op is the best time to try new things. Once you graduate, jumping around between different jobs gets much more difficult. Take advantage of the opportunity to diversify your skill set and learn with an open mind.”
What’s the most challenging thing about co-op?
“I think learning is very important and I found that for some of my co-op terms it's harder to get the resources or support I need."
“Sometimes this is because the person assigned to train me is busy, other times because I am the only person with an understanding of the issue."
"At the University of California, Davis, I was the only software-proficient employee in the biology lab, so I didn't really have many people that I could turn to for help. I found that getting the answers to my questions or finding innovative ways around the problems I was facing to be extremely challenging.”
What is one thing you were curious to learn about in each organization and role you've done?
“The structure. One of my co-ops I had to clock in and out to record hours. There was a lot more supervision by management, compared to my last job which was more relaxed. You show up to work whenever works for you, just get your work done and you can figure out when you want to do it.”
“I’ve learned a lot working with different kinds of management styles and in different workplace structures. I think it’s interesting because even if you’re doing the same job at two different companies, it can be a completely different experience.”
“I personally don’t want to work in an environment that is on top of me all the time, even if I’m doing work I care about. I would rather do something I don’t like as much with a very supportive atmosphere where I feel like I can pursue my interests.”
What did you enjoy about the culture at each company?
“In my first co-op at Kixcare, I worked remotely and was surprised, and grateful, with how much trust they placed in me. They didn’t have me check in at a certain time and leave at a certain time. I think they put a lot of faith in me to get the work that I needed done and that was something I really enjoyed.”
“The second co-op at IKO Industries was similar, but in person. They knew I would get my work done, they knew I would do more if I could and they never pushed it.”
“I really liked the events OES ran. They had a bunch of employee appreciation events that I didn’t experience at the other companies. They brought food trucks, had company lunches and friendly competitions. Those were a lot of fun.”
“For my fourth co-op at the University of California, Davis, I really liked the freedom that was given to me, I could work on weekends or if I wasn’t feeling well, I could miss a day and make it up the next week. I was given a lot of autonomy in that way.”
“Also, communication. There was a lot more emphasis placed on communicating with your team members and working as a group. In a research position it makes a lot more sense because you’re researching as part of a lab rather than working on a project independently. I really liked working with a group of people, finishing my part and fitting it together with everyone else’s work.”
Did your classroom learning prepare you for your co-ops, or did you do more learning on the job?
“I did not use the content from class other than computer-aided design (CAD). But I want to be clear, I still think the classes themselves were extremely useful. Not because of the content they taught, but because of the way they taught me to think.”
“Each one of my classes taught me to think in a different way, they all required diligent problem solving and studying for months to get to the passing mark. The experience of finishing these classes was extremely important.”
How has co-op helped you with your career goals?
“I think the breadth of my experiences will be useful to employers in any job I end up with. I know some people will do a website development co-op and think it was a lot of fun. So, their next four work terms are website development co-op jobs. There is nothing wrong with that if you know what you want to do.”
“The different mechanical engineering positions I've done have been varied. I was on the business side of things with my product management. I've also done software and research. I've hit a lot of industries in four work terms that have taught me completely different ways to do my work and have hopefully made me more versatile. I want to be a more versatile engineer that can bring outside perspectives into any workplace I go to.”
How have you adjusted while working and living internationally?
“It's gone really well for me so far. Keeping in mind that I’m an extrovert, I think the most important thing that I do is try to be as social as possible, as soon as possible. Just so that I can make friends, or even acquaintances, and hang out with them. I try and make friends in the beginning, because I know that later it gets a lot harder after I get more settled into my new routine.”
What's next for you?
“I want to work on something that's important. I've really enjoyed working on something as significant as world hunger. I found it really rewarding to contribute just a little to a problem with so much importance. I think I'm a lot more motivated to try and solve problems like that. I would really like to go somewhere where I can work on one of those problems.”
“I also really care about personal development and being a well-rounded citizen. I enjoy diversifying my skill set in my co-op positions. In my next term, I hope to get a co-op position in a different industry where I have a lot of work to do, but I can also learn and contribute in new ways.”