Waterloo co-op students help build the future of innovative technology at ATS Corporation
By: Jed Bick (he/him)
Manufacturing automation company, ATS Corporation, gives co-op students the opportunity to impact lives by building automation solutions for its customers.
ATS Corporation (ATS) architects and builds custom automation solutions for its multinational customers across a variety of industries. From health care to consumer products, the company’s innovative manufacturing solutions have a meaningful impact around the world.
“Customers come to ATS because they have confidence in our ability to execute their programs,” said Mike Healy (he/him) (BASc ’00), vice president of technology and products at ATS. “We build first-time systems, things that have never been made or done before.”
ATS helps to solve their customers’ manufacturing needs by delivering effective and efficient automation solutions. It needs skilled and talented team members to help develop these innovative solutions. Enter Waterloo co-op students.
Mike Healy, vice president of technology and products at ATS
The next generation of talent brings the next generation of technology solutions
ATS treats Waterloo co-op students like full-time employees and values the essential role they play in multiple projects. Waterloo co-op students have advanced critical thinking and problem-solving skills that set them apart. The team at ATS especially appreciates how much co-op students from Waterloo are willing to innovate on the job.
Luisa Gonzalez, fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student
“At the end of the day, we need bold disruptors at ATS,” said Healy. “Critical thinking and a multidisciplinary approach to solving problems is going to get us the next generation of technology and solutions for our customers.”
The company trusts students to apply their skills effectively and gives them the time and space to take on a project and run with it.
Luisa Gonzalez (she/her), a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student, spent one of her co-op work terms with ATS working on a project to optimize the speed of an assembly line for electric battery vehicles.
“What I really liked about ATS was at first I was able to learn all their procedures," said Gonzalez. “Then, I was put right into the project. I felt like the things I was working on were contributing to what the customer needed. It wasn't just side work. I was actually seeing these designs coming to life.”
Alex Lee (she/her), a second-year Biomedical Engineering student at Waterloo, had such a positive co-op work term experience at ATS as a project coordinator that she came back for a second work term.
During her second work term, Lee further developed her technical skills as an automation designer.
She appreciated the opportunity to work on medical device packaging systems, which aligned perfectly with her Biomedical Engineering degree. The project managers were impressed with how Lee’s work helped to improve the project prototypes.
“I was encouraged to spread my wings at ATS," said Lee. "I was able to learn more about the automation process and able to contribute to more. They also provided the environment in which I felt comfortable to do so.”
Alex Lee, second-year Biomedical Engineering student
Waterloo co-op students are ready and equipped to innovate
In Healy’s experience, recruiting new employees for ATS can be a time-consuming process. The ability to hire co-op students, who can learn and evolve on the job, makes the process of securing qualified employees easier and faster.
“Co-op students who have previously been at ATS come in and operate like they’ve been here for a year or two,” said Healy. “That is massively important for us as a business because it can take quite a while to ramp up a new employee and get them to a level where they can really start engaging and leading problem-solving efforts. With co-op students, they’re hitting the ground running.”
As ATS operates in a fast-paced and competitive industry, the company values how Waterloo co-op students are prepared to work from day one on the job.
“The way Waterloo designs their programs so that students work on different projects prepares students very well for the workplace,” said Healy.
The company recognizes that having future-ready talent is key in their industry as employees from Generation Z become more prominent in the workplace.
“Bringing energy and new ideas helps customers gain confidence that we're an innovative and exploratory company,” said Healy.
“I think that's where co-op students bring value. In some cases, they're actively engaging customers themselves and impacting their perception of who ATS is. That's how much faith we put into our co-op students.”
ATS is the recipient of the 2023 Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE) Employer Impact Awards for Impact in Innovation.
The company received the award for extending its commitment to fostering innovation to co-op students.
By entrusting students to implement their knowledge and skills, ATS is allowing them to contribute innovative solutions toward meaningful outcomes. As an employer, ATS provides students the opportunity to impact the business, and the world, in bold ways.
Empowering technological innovation through people
As ATS shapes technology that has a meaningful impact, the company values Waterloo co-op students for the skills, education and experience they have to help solve important challenges.
“At the end of the day, people innovate, not companies,” said Healy. “And I think the same thing is, people innovate, not technology. So, we need the people to drive the technology and the right application of that technology.”
To get an award like this tells me we're doing the right things. It tells me students are engaged. It tells me students are going back to the university and talking about ATS.