In this weekly news, I feature a short summary of the CHBE Industry Night, which is a bi-annual event organized by UBC CHBE Undergrad Student Council and the UBC APSC Alumni Relations Team.

Some of you that follow the CHBE GSC Blog might know, the featured alumni are Dr. Eric Jervis, PEng – STEMCELL Technologies, Jane Nieuwenburg, EIT – Lorax Enviromental Servies Ltd, Peter Wynne, PEng – Chevron, and Warren MacPhail, PEng – Devon Energy, who is actually an alumni of U of Calgary.

The event started with Dr. Peter Englezos welcome speech. The evening continued with Claudio Arato, PEng as the host. Claudio Arato is a alumnus of UBC CHBE and currently sits on the department’s Industrial Advisory Board.

Following this, I will state important points that each speaker had mentioned during the presentation.

Dr. Jervis is the 1st speaker of the evening. He encouraged the students to work for good grades because that shows how hardworking a student is. He stressed the importance of 10 year plan as a successful career requires time, patience and planning to build.

Jane Nieuwenburg, who is a recent graduate from our graduate. discussed her job hunting experience. There are 2 points that hit the spot.

1. No matter which year you’re in, start looking for a job right now.
2. Don’t limit yourself to posted jobs. You have to approach companies by contacting them personally. State your interest and your capability to the company clearly.
3. Learn more about companies by talking to representatives in career fairs and info session available on campus and else where.

Peter Wynne has worked with Chevron since his graduation from UBC in year 1981. He said that he actually worked in many different jobs in the same company. He stated as a design engineer, then financial and marking representative and currently a process engineer at a refinery. He works with clients from around the world in daily basis. The advice that Peter gave is to try as many experience as you can. When you’re young, try out jobs that are outside your comfort zone. For example, working in the freezing North of BC or somewhere far away from home. This will help yourself to widen your mindset and also serves as a great opportunity for you to learn many lessons that one might not learn in an office job.

Warren MacPhail talked about his experience at Devon Energy. He talked about the development of optic fibre well temperature sensor and search for improved technology for the future 5 or 10 years. Warren also talked about what he looks for in a resume. He looks for something that people challenge themselves to do over time. Join professional societies and organizations and get involved.

To sum up, start now, build your technical and soft skills, expand your network, and find your passion immediately.

If you have any suggestion for what you like to see on our weekly news, please email me at jslee@chbe.ubc.ca or comment on this blog post.
Also please join the CHBE Grad Student Club Facebook Group onhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/chbegsc/ if you are a graduate student or a recent alumni of graduate program of UBC CHBE.

From the left, Warren MacPhail, Jane Nieuwenburg and Peter Wynne

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