Graeme Williams came to University of Waterloo in 2004, directly from Orillia, a town north of Lake Simcoe with a population of approximately 30,000. He picked the Nanotechnology Engineering (NE) program as part of a personal challenge: he was relentlessly competitive and set his sights on the Canadian undergraduate program with a reputation for being the most difficult to enter. Besides, it was one of the only programs that touched all of his favourite subjects: programming, chemistry and physics.
He thrived on the challenge, learning what he calls “an interesting mix” of specialties: “The NE program provides a lot of breadth of subject matter, but it is deep enough that you learn to speak the language to others.”
Furthermore, Graeme credits the early access he had to clean rooms, deposition equipment and common characterization equipment for launching his interest in research. In all, the unique mix of optics, electronics and materials science that he studied at University of Waterloo uniquely shaped him for his current job as an Optical Display Engineer at Apple.
Study/Work Balance
When asked, Graeme struggles to identify the most challenging aspect of his undergraduate program. He settles on “NE 334: Statistical Thermodynamics” momentarily before concluding that it was “balancing everything.” In addition to what seemed like tough courses and a heavy workload, Graeme felt the pressure of applying for co-op jobs while studying for mid-term exams.
To cope, he developed his own approach to study/work balance, which included a strict study schedule, favourite hobbies and fun extra-curricular activities. He used the rotational study schedule that he had learned in his musical studies as a child: forty minutes of study followed by ten minutes of break. He worked many hours this way, always sure to take breaks so he could return to his study with renewed focus.
Throughout university, Graeme maintained some pet projects, including programming games and websites and working through FPGA projects – FPGAs, or field programmable gate arrays, are semiconductor devices that contain programmable logic components. Integrating the concepts and processes of his programming hobbies with the information he was learning in class was a relaxing distraction from his studies.
Graeme Williams, first-year Nanotechnology Engineering student (2005)
On his co-op terms, Graeme took advantage of his un-scheduled time to join some on-campus clubs. As a singer in the Engineering Jazz Band, With Respect to Time, Graeme performed regularly at community events, graduation parties and end-of-term charity gigs. The band’s website describes itself like this: “Our 70% serious 30% silly approach keeps us sane amidst the onslaught of assignments, midterms and essays.” Besides giving him the musical injection he missed, singing with the band was just plain fun.
Over time, and thanks to his effective coping strategies, Graeme noticed that his capacity to perform under stress increased in concert with his stress load. The skills he developed in high school and honed in university continued to evolve throughout his career. At each step, when he reached a stress load that was beyond his current coping level, he managed the adrenaline and focused his attention on the task at hand to develop the skills necessary to excel. Seeing his ability to increase his focus and clarity helped him feel more confident under pressure.
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Graeme’s Co-op Work Term Employment History
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Co-op Term Advantages
While the process of finding and pursuing co-op jobs was an added stress during his academic terms, Graeme credits those same jobs with giving him some significant advantages: free time to pursue his personal interests and opportunity to perform interesting work. Both helped him develop skills he needed to excel in the program and enhance his interdisciplinary skillset.
In the Materials Interconnect Lab at Blackberry, Graeme performed failure analysis on real MP-shipping products, gaining critical hard skills on many different types of equipment, including scanning electron microscopes, Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, CT-Scan/X-Ray imaging, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, etc. At Notre Dame’s Radiation Lab, he performed grad-school level research on cutting-edge nano materials. This allowed him to publish several papers that, collectively, have been cited over 2,600 times.
Finally, working with Professor Hany Aziz in University of Waterloo’s Giga-to-Nano Lab gave him direct experience in the fabrication and characterization of organic light emitting diodes. Inspired to continue working in organic electronics, Graeme pursued his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Waterloo.
Graeme Williams, Electrical and Computer Engineering PhD Candidate (2015)
Unique Interdisciplinary Skillset
Now, as an Optical Display Engineer for Apple, Graeme designs and engineers displays for use in Apple's products. He is responsible for prototype design, system integration and front of screen performance of Apple displays.
Waterloo’s Nanotechnology Engineering degree prepared Graeme perfectly for his specialization in organic electronics. He appreciates that his undergraduate education was unique, offering a mesh of device physics, optoelectronics and materials science: “Most people who know about organic and polymer chemistry, which are the core building blocks of organic electronics, do not also have a strong background in optics and the operational physics of a diode, which is required for organic light-emitting diode or organic solar cell studies. Having that background was a big advantage for me.”
He didn’t expect to be working across the continent, but he’s thrilled about both his dream job and location. “My unique skillset was not in high demand in Canada when I graduated. I didn’t have luck finding work there, but the job market was much brighter when I expanded my search south of the border. I now have an incredible position, and California is beautiful. It offers near-limitless weekend destinations, and my wife and I enjoy regular road-trips.”
Lessons Learned
From his experience in the program and post-graduation, Graeme shares some tips for future and current Nanotechnology Engineering students:
- If you're looking for a hardware position at a company, do not be afraid to travel out of Canada. There are many fantastic positions and amazing people to work with around the world.
- Learn programming for fun – being able to quickly script and automate tests, data analysis, etc. has been invaluable throughout my entire career.
- Take advantage of your spare time during co-op positions. It is precious. In addition to offering a moment for new professional development through the co-op position itself, the nights and weekends provide a perfect opportunity to branch out and learn new things. Whether it's joining an engineering jazz band, learning trumpet or programming a simple video game together with friends, make your time count.